


Cliché

by abadeerly



Series: Crack Fics/AU's [7]
Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Angst, Childhood Friends, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Sort Of, mild homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2019-11-13 01:43:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 60,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18022439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abadeerly/pseuds/abadeerly
Summary: Marceline moves into her new college dorm only to find out that her room mate is her ex best friend. And her local barista. And her fake girlfriend. And her… fiancé? Marceline’s not even sure where to start.





	1. Worst Case Scenario

**Author's Note:**

> This? This is the thing I've been writing instead of Educational. It's also literally every good fanfiction trope I could realistically cram into one fanfiction. Good luck.

Marceline has to physically stop herself from yelling. Or running away. Or, well, anything too dramatic that came to mind as soon as she had stepped inside her new dorm room. She hadn't even paid attention to the other person in the room-also stood in shock now that Marceline had closed the door and let out an inhuman shriek. She'd just unlocked the door, pull her suitcase inside, and looked up. Oh, how she regretted looking up. How she regretted agreeing to move away to college just for the sake of making her father happy. 

Lo and behold, as if the whole world was against her (and Marceline had a sneaking suspicion it was), stood Bonnibel Bennett. Red hair much shorter than Marceline remembered, freckles less visible, blue eyes wide with surprise. Yes, Marceline came to the conclusion that this was the universe's way of telling her she shouldn't have spent all her money on a cherry red gibson les paul in the summer. 

"Hi," Of course Bonnibel Bennett was the first to speak. Of course Marceline just stood their flailing with her mouth open waiting to catch flies. "Your room is-" 

Marceline left the room and her suitcase. And any amount of dignity she had before entering that damned room. Perhaps she could get a different room away from the devil incarnate, or maybe she'd sleep in the student kitchen, amongst the dead plants and already dirty plates that piled high in the sink. Maybe she'd just use the hustle and bustle of the semi crowded corridor, filled now with sweaty students trying to find their rooms, to find a different room mate. She would've done, if she hadn't have left her damn case. Now onto plan D, Marceline slunk down the corridor to where it was most busiest, not putting too much thought into what Bonnibel might be doing with her things. The stop in human traffic seemed to be caused by two boys, a mini snooker table, and a door that was just a size smaller than what they needed. One of the boys closest to Marceline was sweating profusely, probably because it was august and the summer heat was persistently trying to reach new heights every day, but Marceline would also put into account the throngs of panicking students trying to shove themselves between the boy and the wall to get to their rooms. 

"Finn, we need to fold the legs in," The boy said through haggard breaths, turning the table the opposite way to the blonde on the other end. Marceline couldn't help the smirk that took over her at the spectacle in front of her. Sweaty boy released his grip on the table legs, resulting in a clatter and a hearty laugh from someone nearby. "Finn,"

Finn glanced up at Sweaty Boy, red faced and still trying to pull on the legs in a futile attempt to get the too big mini pool table through the too small regular door frame. "Are you suggesting we fold them in now or do you want to carry this back out of the building with me?" There was a pause before Sweaty Boy nodded. "Why'd you even take this from her, dude?" 

Sweaty Boy dived into a story about how his girlfriend had no space in her new room, and that he'd already helped set it up for her, and Marceline's smirk widened when they began to lift the table back up and shuffle it down the hall. There were a few disgusted looks thrown their way by the numerous students who had been stuck at one end of the hallway. For some reason, Marceline decided to take a leg and help them carry it out of a nearby fire escape and into the parking lot.

“Who allowed it to be so damn hot?” Finn whined, squinting back into the sunlight as he backed up for the table to be set down, his mop of golden blonde hair sticking to his forehead.

“Pretty sure that’s global warming,” Marceline muttered around a chuckle. The two boys looked over at her for the first time in the five minute moving of the table. She took Finn’s smile as a thanks. “Marceline,” She greeted with the same smirk as before.

They introduced themselves as brothers, Finn and Jake Mertens, eighteen and nineteen years old respectively. For the life of her Marceline couldn’t figure out how they were related; Finn was slender and tanned, blue eyed and blonde, whereas Jake was on the heavier side, paler than his brother and had dirty brown hair and brown eyes. Maybe their parents were polar opposites appearance wise.

“You’re a freshman too, then?” Finn asked her as they began to figure out how to put the legs down so they’d have a better time moving it into the room. Marceline kept telling herself that the only reason she was helping them was because it was either that or going back to Room 13E to meet her worst nightmare.

(It definitely wasn’t because they were already growing on her).

So Marceline began to tell them that yes, she was a freshman, nineteen years old and was a music major. She learned that Jake played viola in his spare time and that Finn could beat box pretty well, although he went an incredible shade of red when Marceline asked for an example.

With the last leg folded down against the underside of the table, Marceline helped them carry it back through the fire escape and into the less crowded, but still hectic, corridor. Marceline took it upon herself to hold the door open for them, snickering when Finn knocked a corner into the door frame and Jake berated him for damaging his girlfriend’s pool table.

“Thanks, man.” Jake muttered when the table had been propped against the couch in their room. “If you need help with anything in the future just let us know. Couple of buff boys will help out,” Marceline laughed when the brothers began flexing their biceps in jest, and left their room with a friendly wave and a smile.

The only productive thing Marceline could think to do was go back into Room 13E and demand Bonnibel leave until she was finished packing her things away (read: never). To her pleasant surprise, however, the room was empty when she entered their shared space. Maybe Marceline’s luck was finally taking a turn.

* * *

 

Coffee. Marceline had spent the last two hours inside, in the heat, putting her belongings away in the empty room that the She Devil had left untouched for her. Her bed was made, the TV and console was set up, and even her guitar was plugged into an amp that she’d lugged along with her. It was almost eerie how Bonnibel hadn’t come back within the two hour period to ruin Marceline’s day and have her jump from the window, which was absolutely a doable escape route because the only thing blocking her window was a bush that was definitely going to be trampled down by the time Marceline was done with it. She needed coffee in her system, something sugary, absolutely anything to keep her going on the four hours sleep she’d had pulled up near a gas station in her tiny red car.

And anyway; worst case scenario was that Bonnibel was at the __only__ tiny coffee shop that offered student discounts in a hundred mile radius of the college. What were the chances of walking in and seeing Bonnibel stood behind the counter, anyway? About a million to one, Marceline reckoned.

It was the hair that gave her away. Tucked into a messy ponytail beneath a little green visor that advertised the coffee shops very unoriginal logo of a coffee bean. Bonnibel just __had__ to be the barista, naturally. Yes, Marceline was regretting buying that damned guitar amongst other things.

“Let me guess, black coffee and a strawberry tart?” The condescending tone of Bonnibel’s voice sent an icy chill down Marceline’s spine. Bonnibel _ _knew__ Marceline’s order like the back of her hand, after all these years, and she just had to say it as if Marceline had kicked her somewhere unpleasant.

“You guessed correctly,” Marceline responded drolly, fighting hard to not roll her eyes as she dug around in her pockets for the change. “You want a trophy or something? You __were__ always up your arse about those,” Biting back that comment deemed harder than the eye roll, which she opted to add in when she saw Bonnibel’s frown deepen.

“That’s five ninety,” Bonnibel said after a moment of pressing the buttons on the cash register, eyeing Marceline around an unamused glare.

Marceline’s eyebrows shot up. “Student discount,” She half flailed once more, jabbing her thumb over to the window where she’d read a sign saying that they __absolutely did student discounts__.

Bonnibel’s frown vanished in turn for a sweet smile. Marceline wanted to punch it off her. “I have the right to deny discounts to any and all customers that rub me the wrong way. Take your overpriced coffee and tart and leave.”

Throwing the change down on the counter might have been a tad too dramatic even for Marceline. But __god__ did it feel so good knowing Bonnibel had to scramble around on the floor for that stray coin that fell to the floor. Marceline walked away from the counter with a smirk on her lips that she was sure wasn’t going to leave any time soon.

She took a window seat, well enough away from Bonnibel so that she wasn’t at the forefront of her mind, but not so far that she couldn’t see the younger woman in that dumb uniform smiling to random customers and being hit on by every other male customer. For some reason, seeing Bonnibel uncomfortable and squirming behind that counter made feel Marceline warmer than the coffee ever could.

Suddenly, the worst case scenario didn’t seem so bad.


	2. As Good As It Gets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Marceline keeps bumping into Bonnibel. And I establish more of the characters.

 

Marceline awoke to a sore neck the following day. There wasn’t a chance in hell that she was going to sleep anywhere near Bennett after what had happened in the coffee shop. Marceline was a cocksure asshole, sure, but she wasn’t an absolute idiot. At least, she didn’t think she was personally. She’d cashed in her favour with the Merten brothers a little earlier than she’d have liked; politely asking if she could sleep on their tiny couch for the night with a promise that they wouldn’t do anything messed up while she was asleep. The only messed up thing they did was buy a couch harder than the one Marceline had back home.

Day two of freshers week and Marceline had already chosen to sleep in clothes she was probably going to continue to wear for at least another twelve hours. From what she could tell, both brothers had gone out without waking Marceline up to tell her to get the fuck out their room, effectively rendering her stuck in their room until they got back. Which… could be days considering she’d overheard Finn talking about his friend who was trying to hold a week long party.

Her only other means of escape was an already open window facing the main field of the college building, through which Marceline could see the different activities and clubs stalls set up to lure the freshmen into joining their cult like groups. Marceline shoved a boot clad foot out of the window.

“Are you okay?” Came a small voice from under the window. Just inches away from her foot was another student, turquoise hair swept away from their forehead. Marceline stared back at them with an equally bewildered expression on her face.

Eventually, she continued throwing her other leg out of the window and hopped down beside the student. “This place is nuts, yeah?” She muttered, nodding to the throngs of students on the field. A few of them had looked over at her as she clambered out the window, but were too busy to pay attention to anything other than flyers and clipboards thrust into their faces.

“Yeah,” The student mumbled. “Why did you climb through a window?

Marceline sent them a grin. “Some people I met yesterday locked me in their room after I escaped from the literal devil. If you see a girl with short red hair and a sour expression on her face, tell her she’s an absolute bitch.”

With that she sauntered out of the shrubbery and onto the field, peering at some of the stalls in distaste before deciding against joining a group by the name of ‘Mathematical Mates’. One of the people in a swim cap started making a beeline towards her, and Marceline could only respond by spinning on her heel and walking in the complete opposite direction, further into the madness.

“Marceline,” Came an unfamiliar voice. Marceline wanted to say that whoever the voice belonged to was calling out for a different Marceline, but then again it wasn’t exactly a common name and it was being repeated until it sounded from directly behind her. At her shoulder was a tall, slender student with dirty blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail. The stranger smiled wide when Marceline turned to face her. “I’m Lady, Jake’s girlfriend, the one with the pool table? Thanks for helping him out with that yesterday.”

Oh, so the brothers had been talking about her had they? “Yeah, it was whatever. D’you know where they went this morning?” Lady’s eyes rolled up in thought, but she shrugged her shoulders after fifteen seconds and shot Marceline an apologetic look. “Cool, just tell them that I had to leave through their window.” Marceline began to spin on her heel and leave to go and find someone else to pester, but Lady reached out to grab her arm.

“Come with me to sign up for a club? My friend ditched me about twenty minutes ago, promise you don’t have to join anything.” Lady said brightly, already pulling Marceline further into the organised chaos and not giving her much choice.

Still, Marceline grumbled out a ‘sure’ and released her arm from the other woman’s grip. Lady guided her around the numerous pop up stalls and gatherings of students, stopping to peer at one of the sign up sheets every now and then only to shake her head and move on.

“You think I’d be good at water polo?” Lady hummed around a chuckle, already putting her name down on the sign up sheet before Marceline could even take in the question. “Guess that’s me done, are you going to join a club?”

Marceline huffed. She’d never been one for working as a team, nor was she particularly fond of doing anything other than ordering pizza at four am to devour it whole in under twenty minutes. Lady’s smile bloomed ever brighter. “Yeah, fine. Is there any music related clubs?”

Surprisingly, Lady led to her towards the east side of the field without a word. Marceline assumed the college’s expanse of musical extracurriculars would start at brass and end at woodwind. She had assumed wrong.

The first stall Marceline saw already had a group of three people, overlooked by most people passing by. It was simply advertised as ‘Jam Sessions’ and had a schedule that seemed incredibly casual and lenient. Yes, Marceline was all for those two words.

“What instruments do you play?” Came a voice from the group of three. The dark skinned woman took a few steps towards Marceline, who was already putting her name down with a smile.

“All.” Marceline replied in a completely serious tone. Lady’s eyebrows raised.

The woman in front of her gave her a grin, holding her hand out as she introduced herself. “Awesome, I’m Keila and those two rejects over there are Bongo and Guy,” She pointed at the slightly chubby boy and the tall, slender boy respectively. “If you put your phone number down we can text you when our first session is. Or you can stick with us and be bored all day.”

Marceline snorted. “Phone number it is then,” She muttered, jotting down her number next to her scribbled name. Then, Lady was tapping her on her shoulder and dragging away from the stall.

“Dude, you have got to stop lugging me around my like that. Next thing you know my arms gonna be out of its socket and-,” She paused mid sentence when Lady finally came to a stop, now off the field and at a seating area nearby. Finn and Jake were already sat down, helping themselves to what Marceline assumed had been a burger and chips. There was a flash of red out of the corner of her eye and she turned, ready to glare, only to see that it wasn’t Bonnibel and was instead another girl with red hair down past her shoulders.

“Hey Marceline,” Finn greeted around a mouthful. “That’s Phoebe, she’s pretty great.”

The redhead rolled her eyes, but turned to Marceline with a smile. “I’m Phoebe, I’m pretty okay. We’re still missing one more but I guess you could fill in for her while we eat.” Her tone was very teasing and light hearted, and Marceline made a mental note that Finn might be correct sometimes. Only sometimes.

“I thought she was with you,” Jake muttered, turning to Lady with a frown as Marceline made to sit down next to Finn. “Where did Marceline come from?”

“The womb,” Marceline replied for Lady. “If you want me to leave I will.”

“What? No, you’re cool. It’s just we made a friend yesterday and she was supposed to be joining us today.” Jake huffed, giving the chaos behind him a glance over.

Lady bit her lip and slid herself onto the bench. “She said she’d be here soon, I assume she’s joining a club.”

Marceline opened her mouth to ask who it was they were all waiting for, but then an all too familiar voice huffed out a ‘Hey, sorry about that’, and Marceline whipped her round to find who she already knew was there. Bennett.

“I was trying to call my brother but my phone wasn’t getting any service,” She explained to the group, having not seen Marceline yet. “I had to go all the way around to the other side of the field to get any data.”

Marceline snorted. “How _is_ Robert?”

Bonnibel’s face went through a plethora of emotions in the span of five seconds. First she was confused, then surprised, and then she was downright glaring at Marceline. A chip fell out of Finn’s mouth and onto the floor.

“You know each other?” Lady asked, seemingly not noticing the tenseness of the situation. “Oh, lovely.”

Bonnibel and Marceline looked at each other for what felt like years, until Bonnibel finally spoke up and looked back a Lady. “Bitch next door?” She tried, taking a seat next to Phoebe. At Lady’s puzzled expression, she devil rolled her eyes. “We’ve known each other since we were small. We fell out. Nothing major.”

Marceline snorted. “She’s downplaying it, she ruined my life.”

“I ruined your life? What about when you purposely broke my bedroom window?” Bonnibel retorted hotly. Marceline opened her mouth to tell her politely to fuck off but Jake beat her to it.

“Okay, okay. We get it. But this is _college_ , guys, come on. No chance of a clean slate? Or just, I don’t know, maybe you guys could be civil?”

“Marceline wouldn’t know civil if it slapped her across the face.” Bonnibel could only mutter. “And anyway, we’re roommates. I’m guessing we’re gonna have to learn to enjoy each others company.”

Jake turned to Marceline. “Is that why you stayed over last night? To avoid her?” Marceline could only give him a shrug. What was she supposed to do? Risk getting her throat slit in the middle of the night? No thank you.

“I’m going,” Marceline grumbled, shooting a glare at Bonnibel. She narrowly dodged Lady’s attempt to grab her sleeve, not bothering to look back at the group who were shouting for her to sit back down.

Civil.Yeah, Marceline didn’t do that.

* * *

 

Marceline wandered into the student kitchens, still groggy from the two hour nap she thought was well deserved after her encounter with Bonnibel. She desperately needed coffee, and there was no way in hell that she’d go to the coffee shop in case she was there behind the counter with her wicked smile.

The kitchen was devoid of any life as Marceline shuffled in. The clock on the wall told her it was almost half past six, and she was suddenly very aware that she’d spent most of the day sleeping. She began making herself some coffee, blearily rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Honestly, she just wanted enough energy for if Bonnibel showed up to make her day worse once more. Yelling at someone seemed more effective with a bit of pep than it did after sleeping on an uncomfortable couch.

“You know you have to actually turn it on, right?” Speak of the devil. Marceline groaned internally, not bothering to peer over her shoulder to even glance at Bonnibel. She flicked the switch on and lo and behold, the water started boiling. Miraculous. “A thank you would be nice.”

“Fuck off,” Marceline huffed. From the corner of her peripherals she saw Bonnibel come closer to the counter and smirked despite herself when she saw her stand on her tiptoes to grab a mug out of the cupboard. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Bonnibel had the audacity to roll her eyes. “Getting some coffee, what does it look like?”

“Uh-uh, no, this is my coffee. Back off.” Marceline glared, stepping defensively towards Bonnibel. It was only then that Marceline realised Bonnibel had grown since they had last seen each other; the red head now towered a few inches taller than Marceline. “When did you grow, squirt?” Marceline asked before she could catch herself.

Bonnibel narrowed her eyes at the old nickname. “Is there a reason you’re always childish? Maybe you just shrunk out of cynicism.”

Marceline opened her mouth to retort but found that the coffee was ready and decided to busy herself with pouring it into her mug instead of entertaining Bonnibel. When the other woman made a grab for the coffee, however, she pulled it away from her and stuck her tongue out.

“I made the coffee, so I have the right to deny it to anyone that rubs me the wrong way.” She echoed Bonnibel’s words from the day before. “And anyway, a barista like you should be making their own damn coffee.”

Bonnibel glared a little harder. “Maybe I will.”

“Good.”

“Fine,”

The kitchen fell into silence the moment Bonnibel started making her own cup of coffee. Marceline vaguely remembered seeing a sign about not taking the mugs out of the kitchen if they didn’t own them, meaning that she was stuck in the kitchen until she finished her drink.

Fantastic.

“You wasted perfectly good coffee.” Bonnibel hummed after a few minutes of silence. “Just because you’re being petty.”

Marceline sighed around her mug. “And here you are, wasting your breath, just because you think I care.”

She could’ve sworn she heard Bonnibel mutter something under her breath, but she really wasn’t in the mood for another bout of conversation. She thought about disregarding the whole mug rule to storm off into their room to wallow in her hatred, but her fathers disapproving face when he’d eventually find out that she’d already broken a rule during her first couple of days was enough for her to sit on the edge of one of the tables and ignore Bonnibel.

Marceline couldn’t see herself ever being civil with her, but she could perhaps tolerate her existence for the time being. That’s as good as it’ll ever get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Support me on kofi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP (lmao i'm broke)


	3. Victim of Circumstance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where I essentially roast myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thanks for the amount of support y'all have been giving this fic. I promise we'll start moving away from the 'enemies' stage to the 'friends' stage soon, but i gotta milk this fic for all the angsty, tropey goodness it has before they even get close to platonicness.

Classes. After the pandemonium which was freshers week Marceline had almost forgotten that she had _classes_. If the world was against her when she found out Bonnibel was her room mate, she’d hate to find out what type of cosmic being she’d pissed off to be given a class at 7am on a Monday.

It got her away from Bonnibel, at least, who still liked getting up at six am to read and drink tea. Seeing Bonnibel look different but act the same way she used to was going to give Marceline a migraine. Even the way she smiled was the same.

It made Marceline seethe with anger.  

Finn was in her music theory class, which was odd considering Jake had told her that he was tone deaf. Still, it was nice to see a friendly face in the classroom. At least she’d have someone to sit next to without awkward introductions.

“Hey Marceline,” Finn greeted, moving his belongings off of the chair beside him for her to sit down. “You look particularly sour today.”

“Bonnibel,” Was all Marceline could say, thankful that Finn wasn't one of the people who was adamant on getting them to be friendly. “I didn’t think you were the musical type.”

“I’m not,” He grumbled. “Jake thought it’d be funny to sit me in theory. I think it’s just so him and Lady can bone-,”

“Okay, ew.” Marceline hissed, shooting the boy a disgusted look. “I don’t wanna know about that. Weirdo.”

Finn’s smile was childish as ever, but he remained quiet for the rest of the class. It was only when the bell sounded to end the period that he said something odd. “Bonnie wants you to have her number,” And he was already getting out his phone. Marceline stared, perplexed, before shaking her head at him.

“I live with her,” She reminded him, not liking the sentence in her mouth one bit. “I’ll get it from her in like ten minutes when I go back to my room.”

“You have free periods after this?” Finn asked, finally putting away his phone. Why did __Bonnibel__ want __her__ phone number anyway?

“Until twelve, yeah,” Marceline huffed. “I honestly might go back to sleep.”

They parted ways when Finn realised he was heading in the opposite direction of his next class, leaving Marceline to ponder on why Bonnibel suddenly needed her number. Maybe it was just a joke, maybe their friends wanted them to be ‘connected’. Whatever that meant.

When she found herself standing outside her room, unable to go any further because the door was locked, she immediately regretted not letting Finn give her Bonnibel’s number. Karma really wasn’t Marceline’s friend, it seemed.

 ** **Marceline (8:23AM):**** Uh hey don’t tell Finn but I need The Devil’s number. Locked out and have nowhere else to go.

She tapped out the text to Jake, knowing he didn’t have Monday morning lessons after seeing him brag about it on his facebook. Still, she was surprised when he bothered to text back.

 ** **Jake (8:24AM):**** You know you’re allowed to say her name right? She’s not voldemort. And should I be worried about not having to tell Finn? You haven’t fallen out with him too, right?

Marceline elected to ignore Jake’s attempt at humour, instead tapping in the number he offered and pressing call. What she wasn’t expecting was a sleepy ‘hello?’ that brought back memories of dumb sleepovers and adventures in midnight baking.

Marceline shook her head. “You have five minutes to let me in the room or I’ll knock it down.” She snapped. “And did you seriously go straight back to sleep? I thought Bonnibel Bennett was the epitome of waking up early and-,” She cut herself off when the door swung open, revealing Bonnibel, still in her pyjamas, with her phone in her hand.

“There’s such a thing as being ill.” Bonnibel sniffled, shooting Marceline a glare as she moved to one side to let her in. “You wouldn’t know about it because of your perfect immune system.”

Marceline batted her eyelids. “Aw, you think I’m perfect?”

If it could’ve done Bonnibel’s face would have crumpled into even more of a sour look. Instead, she sighed and kicked the door closed. “Just… Let me nap? I have a class in a few hours and I really need to rest.”

Marceline would’ve loved to have said something mean in response, but then she saw Bonnibel’s defeated face and she slumped down on the couch. “Whatever, I guess. You’re not going to have me go get you some medication are you?” The last time Bonnibel had gotten sick under Marceline’s care, she’d forced her to go __shopping__ of all things. The memory of shuffling into the pharmacy at one in the morning made Marceline frown.

“I mean, if you’re going to leave campus it would be the nice thing to do. But I don’t mind either way.”

* * *

 

Marceline had given in. An hour of doing nothing in case she woke a possibly grouchy Bonnibel rendered her bored, and desperate to go out to explore. As soon as she’d put a jacket on Bonnibel had mumbled a ‘I’ll pay you back,’ and that was enough for Marceline to decide that maybe being civil wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

She found a drug store a good ten minute walk away from the campus, bought Bonnibel her damn cold medicine, and bought herself some new shampoo while she was it; knowing that she was already down to her last few uses and it wouldn’t be long until Bonnibel started stealing it. She’d done it so many times in the past when Marceline didn’t mind, when they were fond of sharing dumb things like jackets and umbrellas and __beds.__ It was the memories that put a smile on Marceline’s face that scared her the most. Bonnibel had fucked her over, ignored her for __months__. Left.

“That’ll be six fifty,” The man behind the counter brought Marceline out of her thoughts. She fished around for the change and handed it to the man before turning to take her leave, drugs and shampoo in hand. “Hope your boyfriend feels better soon.” And it was such a __bad__ ploy to get her say ‘sorry, I’m single’ that she just nodded and left the store in a rush.

She bumped into Lady and Phoebe on the way back into campus, both girls with textbooks and notebooks in hand.

Lady took a interest in the medication. “You don’t look ill,” The little smile on her face was enough to tell Marceline that she knew Bonnibel was the one who needed it. Phoebe was too busy texting to even pay attention to the fact that Marceline had been caught doing something nice for her room mate. “I assume you two kissed and made up then?”

“No,” And then, just because Marceline decided she hated Lady’s smug face, “To both of those. She’s manipulating me into doing her bidding, as per usual.”

The other woman rolled her eyes. “Sure thing, Marceline, tell her we’re going to a movie tonight. You’re both invited.”

“I’m not a pigeon.” Marceline grumbled as they parted ways, shooting a glare at Lady’s back. She thought about throwing the medication away when she got to her building, but the promise of Bonnibel handing her money was enough of a small victory that she opened the door to their room and threw it a her head.

Maybe not the best thing she could’ve thought of.

“Hey!” The red head squawked, sitting upright amongst the piles of blankets that had suddenly materialised onto her bed. Then she peered down at the medicine. “Oh, wow. Didn’t think you were actually going to get me this. Thanks.”

“Lady says we’re going out to the movies tonight. All of us. So you’d better stop snivelling by the time she comes knocking on our door.” Marceline muttered with an eye roll, holding her hand out for Bonnibel to give her the money. Instead, Bonnibel grabbed it to hoist herself out of bed. For some reason there was a blush on Marceline’s face.

“Noted, captain. Anything else you want to glare at me about?”

“Everything, actually.” Marceline responded. “I’m going to get food. You’ll be gone when I get back, yeah?”

At Bonnibel’s nod, Marceline left their room once more.

* * *

 

She supposed it was Lady’s doing. Or Jake’s. The minute they’d arrived at the meet up point Lady had texted them Marceline knew something was up. For starters, it was a movie that Marceline had vaguely heard of in the realm of ‘trashy chick flicks’, and she’d somehow ended up seated in between Bonnibel and Lady and Jake. Not ten minutes into the film’s opening scene the latter started to make out heavily, popcorn forgotten about on their laps.

“This movie blows.” She heard Finn whisper from the row behind. “Like, why is she __only just__ finding this guy attractive? After hating him for so long?”

Marceline snorted. “Hetero relationships are whack, dude. But the way I see it she just likes the idea of love.”

“Maybe she’s got that imposter syndrome,” Phoebe pitched in. “Like, they’ve deliberately been forced to hang out with each other for the plot. Which is a tiring trope anyway.”

“Familiarity.” Bonnibel stated out of the blue, twisting in her seat to join the discussion. “It’s the root of hatred __and__ love. They’re so familiar with each other that, to my understanding, the feelings have intermingled. Circumstances and victims and all that jazz.” Marceline blinked. Had Bonnibel just referenced Joan Jett?

And then Finn said something that, if it weren’t for the fact that they were in a movie theatre, would’ve earned him a good kick between the legs from Marceline. “So like you and Marceline?”

There was a snort and laughter from Phoebe, who almost spilled her drink in the process, and Marceline glared at the movie screen. Even Lady had been eavesdropping on their conversation, as was evident by the snicker to the other side of her.

“Not quite,” Bonnibel said slowly after a pause. “We fell out. Sure, there’s __some__ familiarity there from when we were friends, but that’s just more,”

“Torture.” Marceline finished for her when Bonnibel couldn’t quite think of the word. In all reality it was just incredibly awkward; whenever Bonnibel did __anything__ that reminded Marceline of their past friendship it would just make hating her a little less doable. It was __so__ much easier to hate someone when they weren’t around.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. “Sure. Still, there are plenty of people who fall in love with people they once hated and vice versa. Awful movie trope or not, it came from somewhere.”

Marceline shifted uncomfortably in her seat and sat in silence for the rest of the two hour movie. It turned out to not be the __worst__ romance film she’d ever seen, but it was definitely up there with some of the ones Bonnibel had made her watch over their summers together.

When they were both in their beds in their room, Marceline made the mistake of glancing over at a peacefully asleep Bonnibel and sighed harshly. Why oh why was Marceline thinking of __forgiving__ her? After everything she’d done?

And why was the possibility of Bonnibel rejecting her enough to terrify her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Support your favourite brokeass author on kofi! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	4. Sunnyland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beach episode

“Are you planning on sitting and sulking in your room all day or what?” Jake’s voice crackled over the phone. “We’re all thinking of going down to the beach, considering it’s _gorgeous_ today.”

Marceline huffed and brought the covers of her bed up to her sheet. She took a glance over at Bonnibel, who had a faint smirk on her lips but still hadn’t said anything. Marceline groaned internally. “You realise I hate the sun, yeah?”

“Shut up, vampy.” Jake replied with a laugh. Marceline didn’t know what was funny about bullying. “Are you in yes or no? We’re buying snacks now.”

Marceline huffed. On the one hand, it was possibly a good opportunity to try to be civil with Bonnibel as best as she could, as well as get the chance to hang out with everyone before classes consumed their lives. On the other, it meant getting up and going __outside__. In the __sun__. “Fine,” Marceline muttered eventually, trying to ignore the smile now blooming on Bonnibel’s face. “But only if you buy cherry soda.”

“Cherry soda it is, any other requests?”

“Twizzlers, and those little bags of marshmallows.” At Jake’s snicker, Marceline glared and hung up on him. She was a little ashamed to say that when she was friends with Bonnibel she’d developed a sweet tooth. She blames all the cupcakes and unhealthy snacks she’d bring whenever they’d hang out.

Speak of the devil, Bonnibel was now putting her book down on their semi shared desk and stretched before she got off the bed. Marceline stared at her as she moved to the middle of the room, half glaring and half weirdly interested in what she was doing out of boredom.

“If we’re going out you’ll want to get dressed,” Bonnibel sang over her shoulder. “Unless you’re going out like that.”

Marceline spluttered. “What do you mean ‘like that’? I’m in __bed__. I’m wearing my __pyjamas__.”

“Sometimes you’re too easy.” Bonnibel sighed with an eye roll. “I’m going to get showered. Please get changed while I’m in there. I don’t want to see you in your underwear ever again.”

As soon as Bonnibel wasn’t in the room Marceline put her middle finger up at the bathroom door. She put her swimming costume on first, just in case she changed her mind about the beach and the sand and the god awful sun. Maybe she’d be forced in by one of the Merten brothers or Lady. Just as she pulled a hoodie over her head she heard a loud thud from the bathroom, and it was suddenly very hard to __not__ laugh at the thought of Bonnibel having fallen over.

“Still clumsy, huh?” Marceline called, stepping close to the door. When there was no reply, she frowned and knocked twice. “Bonnie? You good?” Concern seemingly took over her, completely forgetting that Bonnibel would be stark naked as she went to open the door.

“You come in here and I’ll call the police.” Bonnibel rasped. Marceline’s smirk returned, but she put a hand over her eyes and continued anyway. “Hey-!”

“Relax, squirt,” Marceline muttered. “You need help getting up, yeah?” And she could practically __feel__ Bonnibel’s pout. “I’m not looking, promise.” As if she’d ever want to look in the first place. “Here, grab onto my arm.” A wet hand clamped around her forearm, and she allowed for Bonnibel to take her time getting up. “Are you hurt?”

“As if you care.” Came Bonnibel’s sulky reply. When Marceline opened her mouth to respond, however, Bonnibel continued. “Twisted my ankle. Just a little sore. Thanks.”

Marceline kept her hand over her eyes while Bonnibel got changed, taking her time because of her ankle in case she knocked it and did any more damage. It was at times like this that Marceline just thought about letting Bonnibel win the six year argument. Say sorry and go back to actually smiling at each other and hanging out because they wanted to.

“I’m good,” Brought her out of her thoughts, and she pulled her hand away hesitantly to see Bonnibel in a yellow sun dress. She almost commented on how nice it looked on her. “Are you ready to head over to the parking lot? My ankle still feels a little sore so I might have to keep you as a support while I walk.”

Marceline could only snort. “Whatever, idiot."

* * *

 

When Marceline learned they were __walking__ to the beach, she’d regretted putting her heaviest boots on. And her hoodie. And the thick black jeans she’d graciously chosen over some shorts. She was sure Bonnibel had messaged their friends, told them that she was wearing all black and that they couldn’t go in a nice air conditioned car. It was just like Bonnibel to want to torture her.

“Sue me for thinking we’d be driving.” Marceline had bit in reply when Lady commented on how warm she looked. “The meet-up point was the __parking lot.__ I figured we’d have utilised that.”

“Didn’t know you knew big words like that.” Bonnibel hummed. “And don’t berate Lady for wondering why you wore __boots__ to the beach.”

“Bitch,”

“Hey,” Jake cut in before Marceline could punch Bonnibel square in the jaw. “Seriously, I think everyone on campus knows you two hate each other. You’ve both made your points. Beach days are supposed to be relaxing.”

Marceline snorted, but crossed her arms in defeat all the same. Her feet were already beginning to get sore from all the walking, but she’d never ever __ever__ tell anyone that in case Bonnibel overheard and laughed at her for being an idiot.

After fifteen minutes of agony for Marceline, they finally made it to the beach. She was somewhat surprised when Lady and Phoebe began to strip away their clothes then and there on the pavement.

“Uh, surely you can wait ‘til we actually find a place to sit down?” Marceline asked, watching with a frown when Finn too began peeling off his outer layer of clothing.

Lady sent her another one of her devilish smiles. “What? Are we too hot for you?”

Marceline opened her mouth to reply, but found herself shutting it and shaking her head instead. Her sexuality was __not__  about to play a role in the butt of numerous light hearted jokes. She only ever told people who she was comfortable with, and even then she already regretted telling __Bonnibel.__ They caught each other’s eye and Marceline shifted uncomfortably.

“You two go get seated,” Jake told them as he held out the bag of goodies between them. “We’re gonna go see if there are any lockers to put our stuff in.”

Marceline had a sneaking suspicion it was another ploy to get them to be alone together, but said nothing and took the bag with a smile. Bonnibel waited until the rest of the group were out of earshot to break the silence.

“I haven’t told anyone, you know.” She said with quiet smile. “I’m not as evil as you think I am.”

Despite herself, Marceline found herself relaxing ever so slightly. “Whatever. I doubt you know how much I hate you.”

They found a nice clear spot away from the crowds of people hoping to get a bit of sun on the weekend. Marceline seated herself down and pulled a book out of her bag to read. She definitely wasn’t going to sit there doing __nothing__ while they waited for their friends. It would mean talking to her, catching up on the six years that they’d missed.

“Why __do__ you hate me so much?” Bonnibel wondered aloud as Marceline got the end of the second page. She narrowed her eyes and turned to the next page, intent on ignoring the other girl as best she could. “I sent you letters saying sorry-,”

“Maybe that wasn’t good enough.” Marceline growled lowly. She didn’t quite know what she meant by that. She certainly __missed__ Bonnibel being their physically after she left, but there was also a sense of emptiness in the written apologies that Marceline still didn’t know what to do with. The whole experience of having her best friend __gone__ was just… empty. Like there was something missing in her life. A Bonnibel sized hole in Marceline’s heart.

She stopped that train of thought when she realised how close she was to crying.

“It’s not like I could’ve stopped my parents from-,”

For the second time that day Bonnibel was interrupted, thank god. “Hey, sorry about that. No lockers, so there’s a chance everything leaves here with a bit more sand than when we arrived.” Jake greeted them, settling down beside Marceline. “Did you guys miss us?”

Marceline busied herself with her reading, not bothering to even humour him. She felt Finn’s standing presence beside her for all of two seconds before he said something about the ocean and then he was off running towards the shoreline. Phoebe rolled her eyes but followed him at a walking pace.

“Any chance we get you in the water?” Lady appeared in front of her. Marceline glanced up at her friend, then at the sea, and then shook her head. “Guess I’ll get Jake to force you in, then.”

“You want her to kill me?” Jake spluttered, scuttling away from Marceline. “I’m not throwing anyone in the ocean, especially not someone who will most likely kill me and hide my body in __soup__.”

Marceline rolled her eyes. “You’re bigger than me. I’m pretty sure you could handle yourself. But soup does sound delicious.” Jake gulped.

“Yeah, Jake.” Lady agreed. “You could chuck her in the water.”

And then, for some reason, Bonnibel was in her ear. “You’ll probably want to get undressed if she convinces him.”

“Alright fine,” Marceline huffed, putting her book back in her bag as she began pulling her hoodie off. “I’ll go in. I want to go my college life without being thrown into any body of water, thank you.”

“You can __try__.” Lady smiled, patting her now bare shoulder. “Jake’s not the only Merten brother who’s thrown people into the water.” Marceline just rolled her eyes again.

“Listen, if I’m going in then so is Bonnibel. I want to test my theory that if she comes into contact with water she’ll melt.” She shot a glare at the red head. “Or __I’ll__ be the one throwing people into the ocean.”

Bonnibel laughed. “I’d like to see you try, squirt.”

Marceline glared harder at the nickname and finished kicking her jeans away. “You would, huh? If I were you I’d be taking that damn dress off before it gets wet.”

Then there was a shriek, a loud laugh, and Marceline was rushing towards the shoreline with Bonnibel thrown over her shoulder. It almost felt like they were thirteen again, going down to the lake near her uncles house, Marceline teasing Bonnibel about how she couldn’t swim. Teaching her at night when they weren’t supposed to be out, when Bonnibel would only break rules for Marceline.

The thoughts were gone when she dropped Bonnibel in the water and received a bitchy comment about her behaviour.

“You ruined my favourite sundress,” Bonnibel said for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening when they had gotten home. She threw a hand over her mouth, yawned, and turned the lamp off on their desk.

Marceline glared at her in the darkness from her own bed. “You deserved it.”

There was a pause and Marceline found herself listening to Bonnibel’s breathing as sleep pulled at her brain.

“I’m sorry,”

Marceline chose to ignore her.


	5. Hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where there's an argument.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit of a rollercoaster, sorry about that.

One of Marceline’s least favourite things was studying. It was monotonous and so painstakingly boring that it made Marceline want to rip out her own eyelashes. So of course, when Marceline got back to her room after a full day of classes and only a half an hour jam session with Keila, Bongo and Guy, she was pretty damn annoyed to find that her room had been taken over by Bonnibel and their friends for an impromptu study session that she hadn’t been warned about via text.

“Don’t be grouchy,” Bonnibel said before Marceline could even get a word of protest out. The other girl reached around behind her and grabbed something that Marceline didn’t really pay attention to. “I got you a coffee because I knew you’d be bitchy about having this many people in your space doing something you find awful. Yes, it’s black, and no, it’s not poisoned. Drink up.”

Marceline tentatively took the drink from her hand and had the manners to mumble out an exhausted ‘thanks’ as she shuffled over to her inviting bed. Luckily, Bonnibel seemed to have made sure that no mess or books had been put near any of her things. It was oddly thoughtful of her. The looks on their friends faces at the sudden act of civility made Marceline inwardly smile as she took her earphones out to plug into her phone.

“She’s always been a sucker for coffee,” Bonnibel explained as she sat back down on her bed. “I remember one time when I was trying to get her to let me put her hair in a braid. She wouldn’t even consider it until I promised to buy her coffees for the entire week.” There was an odd smile on Bonnibel’s face that Marceline chose not to put much thought into.

Instead, she put her playlist on shuffle and tuned everything else out.

She awoke what she assumed many hours later to a tapping on her shoulder. It was persistent and __annoying__ and oh so very Bonnibel.

“I’m asleep,” Marceline huffed in irritation. “Try again tomorrow.”

Bonnibel sighed, hot air blowing against Marceline’s cheek. She cracked an eye open to let her know that her attempts at waking her had been entirely effective. “I’m sorry to wake you,” She almost definitely wasn’t sorry. “I just need someone to drive me somewhere and everyone else is asleep.”

Marceline huffed. When they were both twelve she remembers Bonnibel telling her that she’d never get in a car with her. She blames Bonnibel’s brother’s copy of GTA that she’d stolen.

“What time is it?” Marceline mumbled, sitting up and checking her phone. “Bonnie why are you awake at four in the morning?” There was something off about that sentence that her sleep fogged brain didn’t catch until she said it out loud. __Bonnie__. She hadn’t uttered that nickname in forever.

“It’s dumb.” Bonnibel replied. “I want to see if that old store is open that sold us eighteen rated films when we were ten.”

Marceline wanted to ask __why__  she wanted to go there at four in the morning instead of at a reasonable time like any normal person would but found herself getting out of bed without protesting. She pulled a pair of shoes on and grabbed a jacket before they left, knowing how cold it could get during the early hours of the morning.

“Why’d you move back here?” She asked when they were sat in the car at a red light. The question had been at the back of her mind since she’d entered the room in the first place. The redhead had seemed eager to leave six years ago, so why had she returned? Especially since, as far as Marceline knew, her parents were still out of the country.

“I missed this place.” Bonnibel hummed in response. “And I’ve dreamt of going to college here since I was small, you know that.” Marceline wished she didn’t. “Why’d you stop replying to my letters after a month?”

The bitterness in Bonnibel’s voice made Marceline grip the steering wheel with white knuckles. “Probably has something to do with you leaving.” She bit. “Y’know, without __telling me__.”

“I wanted to!” Bonnibel insisted. Marceline had already heard it, _ _read about it__. Marceline had read every one of Bonnibel’s letters, fuelling her anger towards the other girl for nearly a decade. “I just- I wanted to be selfish and I thought that if you knew you’d have stopped talking to me and-,”

“Get out.” Marceline muttered darkly, pulling the car over harshly. “Get __out__  of my car.”

“I wanted to keep being your friend for as long as possible and I sent you __so__ many letters. Marceline, please,” Bonnibel was crying. She’d made her cry and for some reason, unlike what she’d expected since her absence, it __didn’t__ make her feel any better. It made her feel dirty and sad and __guilty__.

“I don’t care.” She rasped out. “ _ _You__ left __me.__ I don’t care that you thought somehow you were making it better. I don’t care that you sent me letters. You fucked me over.” Bonnibel opened the car door and left without saying another word.

* * *

 

Marceline found Bonnibel sat outside the old movie store, red hair giving her away. It was stupid how Marceline had gone back for her, how she stepped out of her car and sat beside her.

“It’s not open,” Bonnibel mumbled after a minute of silence, voice thick from crying. “It’s not open and I’m cold and you hate me and I miss coming here to get those dumb horror films.” Marceline just sighed heavily in response. “Can we go home?”

Marceline wanted to tell her no, because home wasn’t that college dorm room and Bonnibel deserved to be with her parents instead of her, but she swallowed thickly and nodded her head instead.

The ride back to campus was silent. Marceline preferred it that way; she could focus on driving and forget that Bonnibel was sat next to her. It was sufficient for her to clear her head enough so that she could say something when she was unlocking their door.

“Did you really just want to check if the store was open or was it to try to get me to forgive you?” She muttered, swinging the door open and letting Bonnibel step inside. “Because you didn’t have to lie to me to get me to talk to you.”

“I know,” Bonnibel said. “I’m sorry. It was a little bit of both. I wanted to check on the store in hopes that… I don’t know. We could talk about all the late nights we’d spend together watching those awful films.”

“Of course I remember.” Marceline whispered, locking the door. “Just because you were a bitch doesn’t mean I’m going to forget those cool things we did.”

“You say that like you mean it,” And Bonnibel was crying again. “I really am sorry, Marcy. I should have told you when I first found out, and I should have asked my parents to bring me here to see you and I should have done so much than what I did and-,”

Marceline cut her off with a hug. She wasn’t entirely comfortable with being so friendly to her, but it was the only way she knew how to calm the other girl down. “Don’t call me Marcy,” She huffed. “And don’t think this is me forgiving you. Because it isn’t. This is me being civil and tired from arguing all the time.” And deep down she knew that the only person she was trying to persuade was herself.

“Okay,” Bonnibel nodded against her shoulder. “That’s fair.”

Marceline went to sleep to the sound of Bonnibel’s barely contained crying. And she hated herself because of it.

* * *

 

“So, you made her cry?”

Marceline nodded.

“And you feel guilty about it?”

Another nod.

“So, what’s your problem? Tell her you’re sorry. If you wanna go back to how you two used to be then you’ve got to let go of the past.”

Marceline spluttered. “Are you joking? Keila, I’d rather eat sandpaper than forgive her.”

They were in Keila’s room, Marceline having stayed the past few nights on her friends couch contemplating what had happened with Bonnibel and what it all meant. She was thankful she could just open up to Keila about everything and not have to worry about Bonnibel finding out any bit of it.

“You were both thirteen, come __on__. I get that you’re upset about what happened but at some point you’re going to have to let it go. Like, before you end up pushing her away again. College might be the last time you see her.”

Marceline groaned and let her head fall back onto Keila’s couch. “Why does that fill me with such joy and dread at the same time? I just don’t ever want to see her again, but also I want to go back to eating shitty food and talking dumb to her at stupid times in the morning.”

“Maybe you’re just mad at yourself for not replying to her letters.” Keila offered with a shrug. “And you’re projecting that onto Bonnibel.”

“I wanted to,” Marceline admitted, busying herself with the end of her sleeve. “I just didn’t know what to say or what to tell her.” She laughed harshly at herself when she remembered something. “Oh my god, I have so many draft letters that I kept in case I wanted to send them. They’re so __shit__.”

“Show them to her,” Keila said through a smile. “It might help you open up to her a little more.”

“Can’t. They’re at my dads.” And there was no way she was going to see her dad earlier than necessary. He’d want her to already be passing all her classes and making more friends that what she had already done. Hunson would probably try to convince her into getting a boyfriend to settle down with.

“Fine,” Keila huffed, obviously defeated. “Do you wanna go grab coffee?”

Marceline crinkled her nose up. “Bonnibel’s working today. I don’t wanna see her at all right now.”

“We can laugh at how ridiculous her uniform is,” Keila sang, nudging Marceline with her foot. “Come on, making fun of her usually cheers you up.”

So they ended up going to the coffee shop, Marceline with a pout and Keila with the joy of getting a coffee and sitting down somewhere that wasn’t her couch or bed.

“You want your usual?” Keila asked, sitting herself down at a table and glancing at the red head that hadn’t noticed them yet.

Marceline eyed Bonnibel wearily. “No, she’ll know it’s me. Just get me something with caffeine in.”

“Noted.”

Marceline watched as Keila walked up to the counter to order their drinks, and regretted even agreeing to go in the first place when Bonnibel took one look at Keila and then scanned the rest of the room until their eyes met. Marceline flagged her off and busied herself with her phone.

“Hey, got you a mocha. Let’s pretend Bonnibel doesn’t know you’re here and we can leave as soon as we finish our drinks.” Keila passed her the drink and sat in the seat across from her.

“Thanks, Kei,” Marceline muttered. “How are Guy and Bongo?”

Keila went off on this whole tangent about how Guy and Bongo had gone to a party, drank far too much, and how Guy ended up on the beach in nothing but a bra and a pair of pink socks. It brought a smile to Marceline’s face, but it didn’t stop her from constantly looking up to glare at Bonnibel whenever she got the chance.

“D’you think she cares?” Marceline hummed after she’d finished her coffee and was waiting for Keila to finish her drink.

Her friend raised a brow. “About what?”

“That she hurt my feelings and doesn’t seem to realise that I’m between wanting to forgive her and wanting to hide her body in soup.”

“Soup?”

“Soup, yeah. Jake said something a couple weeks ago about hiding bodies in soup? I don’t know. Are you done?” The coffee shop was beginning to become crowded and it was almost the end of Bonnibel’s shift, meaning that Marceline’s anxiety was going to drive her insane if she didn’t get out of there.

“Yeah, I’m done.” Keila huffed, rolling her eyes as she stood up. Marceline was quick to follow suit and exit the building without a second thought.

* * *

 

“Marceline, are we still married from when we were eight?”

 _ _That__ question was enough for Marceline to think about all the ways in which Bonnibel had screwed her life up. Why oh why did Bonnibel have to remember that they were sort-of-technically-but-not-really married because of a promise they’d made eleven years ago during lunch with their friends.

Jake beat her to a reply. “What? You guys are married?”

“No.” Marceline ground out between teeth. “We were eight, that’s not legal.”

“Technically we’re engaged, though.” Bonnibel supplied, dog earing the page she was on and putting her book down. “She asked me to marry her, and when I told her that we couldn’t get married at that age she asked if I’d marry when we were old enough. Since I said yes we’ve been engaged since we turned eighteen.”

“Oh my god that’s priceless.” Lady got out around her laughter. “You guys are __engaged__.”

“Wait, why did you ask her to marry you?” Finn perked up, elbowing Marceline in the side.

Marceline just glared across the table at Bonnibel. “I was __eight__.” She growled. “Didn’t every eight year old want to marry their best friend?” From the collective ‘no’ from the rest of the table, she elected on shutting her mouth.

“I was only asking because I was given a ring and I ate it like a week later and I never told you.” Bonnibel said around an apologetic smile.

Marceline rolled her eyes and prodded at her empty plate. “I figured. Strawberry was always your favourite. It’s not like I expected you to wear it your entire life.”

“I’m sorry, you got her a candy ring?” Phoebe was now judging her too. Just great. “I’d have thought you were a bit more classier than that, Marceline.”

“We were eight,” Marceline felt the need reiterate that once more. “Bonnibel isn’t gonna be hung up over the fact I gave her candy.”

There was an odd pause in their conversation as everyone waited for Bonnibel’s retort, but when she gave none Lady took it upon herself to ask the second worst question of Marceline’s day.

“Has it ever occurred to you both that that’s kinda gay?”

“I mean, yeah,” Bonnibel started before Marceline could even process the question. “But we were kids and I didn’t even realise I was gay until I was thirteen.”

“You’re gay?” Finn asked for the rest of the table, excluding Marceline. “Wait, why didn’t you tell us?”

Bonnibel shrugged. “It never came up. Apparently me getting married to another woman is only __kinda__ gay though.”

“We’re not getting married.” Marceline mumbled. “Too expensive.”

“That’s the only reason?” Phoebe asked. Marceline internally screamed. “Wait, are you gay too? Oh my god did you guys-,”

Marceline shot out of her seat. “ _ _No,__ nope. I am not even discussing who I’ve held hands with never mind __anything__ to do with my sexuality. Assume I’m Mormon.” And with that she left the table and walked as quickly as she could to her room without causing too much alarm.

 ** **She Devil (4:49PM):**** I’m sorry I really shouldn’t have brought that up I just wanted to joke around a little and maybe see if you’d humour me but I didn’t even think about the others

Marceline glared at her phone screen and angrily tapped out a reply.

 ** **Marceline (4:50PM):**** you’re a bitch

 ** **Marceline (4:50PM):**** if you order us a pizza later I’ll forget that conversation ever happened

 ** **She Devil (4:53):**** Ok, wifey.

 ** **She Devil (4:53):**** Wait, not married yet. Fiancé.

And Marceline couldn’t help but roll her eyes and smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Support me on kofi! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	6. I Hate You So Much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there's progress... and then not.

Bonnibel working at the coffee shop had its upsides. Marceline could get a coffee without having a panic attack over a stranger judging her for her order, she could just appear at the counter with money and Bonnibel would know what she wanted and charge full price for it even though she definitely should be giving her a discount.

And Marceline was kind of thankful for her being an obstacle.

She brought this up with Keila during their weekly jam sessions with the guys, and Keila had called it ‘progress’.

Progress to what, though? Marceline was still a long way from even smiling genuinely at Bonnibel without wanting to explode. She couldn’t spend more than five minutes with her until she felt irritated and angry and she was pretty sure Bonnibel was more than okay with their bedtime routine of calling each other awful names before finally going to sleep.

Maybe it was just progress to Marceline not doing those things. To true neutrality in her relationship with Bonnibel.

“You two seem a lot less waspish today.” Phoebe pointed out the ‘progress’ during one of Bonnibel’s study sessions, now entirely scheduled so that Marceline didn’t have to show up out of the blue and complain loudly. “Are you finally getting along?”

Marceline eyed Bonnibel from her place on the couch and shrugged a shoulder. “I hate her a little less each time she spends more than four hours not acknowledging me.” She muttered out, going back to the game on her phone.

“Damn. That’s some progress right there,” Jake laughed, almost mirroring Keila’s exact tone when she’d said it. “And to say it’s only been over a month.”

“What about when I order food for us?” Bonnibel reminded her. “Do you hate me less then, too?”

Marceline rolled her eyes up in thought. “Nah. I figure you owe me for all the times I used to order for us both. But it is a nice gesture, so thanks I guess?”

Bonnibel seemed pleasantly content with her answer and went back to writing her essay. Finn just looked at her like she’d grown another head.

“I don’t think you’ve ever thanked her before,” He muttered in awe. “You guys really must be getting on.”

Marceline rolled her eyes and threw a stray sock at him. “Don’t be a smartass. I have manners that I’m perfectly capable of using around anyone. Even the devil incarnate.”

“Speaking of manners,” Lady started, suddenly closing her textbook. “I’d like to politely ask if you could tell Guy to stop hitting on me.”

Marceline blinked. “He’s __what__?”

“I think his name is guy, anyway. Tallish? Brown hair and an attempt at a beard?” Marceline nodded. “He’s asked me on a date with him twice this week, and that’s not mentioning how many times I’ve caught him looking at me in French class.”

Marceline frowned and made a mental note to give Guy a firm kick to his goods. “Yeah, I’ll talk to him about it don’t worry.”

“Since when did you hang out with dudebros?” Bonnibel asked, eyebrow arching.

“I didn’t think he was,” Marceline defended. “Go back to studying, nerd.”

Over the course of the next hour and a half the group left one by one until it was once more just Bonnibel and Marceline on their respective beds. Marceline was already getting bored of her phone and when she looked up to find Bonnibel staring at her she glared in response. “What?”

Bonnibel rolled her eyes and packed away her books and essays, taking her own phone out of her pocket.

 ** **She Devil****   ** **(6:38PM):**** Wanna put a movie on and I’ll go to the kitchens to steal some snacks?

When Marceline glanced up at the other woman she wouldn’t have even guessed she sent the text. Bonnibel was still shoving textbooks into her drawer when she responded.

 ** **Marceline (6:39PM):**** Sure. But only because I’m bored

“ _ _Only__ ,” Bonnibel said with a snort. “I think you miss me.”

“I think you need to get snacks now or I’ll change my mind.” Marceline retorted, watching as Bonnibel rolled her eyes. “I’ll let you sit on my bed, just this once, so we can watch it in comfort.” She wasn’t even going to start on how uncomfortable the couches at the college were.

Bonnibel left the room to go to the student kitchens, and Marceline already knew how dangerous letting Bonnibel on her bed would be. She was already so tired, and the thought of sleeping next Bonnibel again made her feel weird. She ignored the fact that she might fall asleep halfway through the movie and instead chose something that would keep them both up.

“Horror, really Marceline?” Bonnibel was quick to judge her on her selection. “You’re the most predictable person I know.”

Marceline rolled her eyes and patted the space beside her. Tonight, maybe, they’d be twelve watching a dumb movie again. Tonight Marceline could sleep to the feeling of Bonnibel’s breathing on her skin.

The movie opened up with it’s regular horror movie opening scene. Girl, in her house, alone and unsuspecting. Bonnibel only ever found Scream interesting because of how there were two killers instead of one. Marceline had to stifle back a handful of yawns until they got to the part where the characters were having a party. Only then did she let her eyes slip closed.

Marceline awoke not half an hour later, the credits of the movie rolling and Bonnibel was halfway off the bed. She did the only thing her sleep fogged brain could think of and swung an arm around Bonnibel’s midriff, willing her to stay there for the night.

“Marceline?” Came Bonnibel’s tired voice. “Are you messing with me?” Marceline shook her head no and found herself smiling when Bonnibel got back on the bed and pulled the covers over them both. “Is this… is this you forgiving me? Or do you actually just miss me.”

“Not forgiving you,” Marceline mumbled, not daring to let go of Bonnibel in case she slipped away once more. “I’m tired and you’re extremely comfy.” Had always been her go to excuse when she was too nervous to ask her to stay the night.

“Okay, Marcy,” Bonnibel hummed. “Miss you too.”

* * *

 

The weather had taken a drastic turn when Marceline left campus to go get food. It was barely two weeks into September and it was pouring down with rain, rendering everyone else indoors. Marceline had always preferred the cold weather to the hot, sticky summer weather they’d recently been having.

She entered the coffee shop with her head down, checking to see if any of her friends were seated before glancing up at her barista. “Usual.” She muttered around her shivering. “When do you get off break today?”

“Asking me out, Abadeer?” Bonnibel said, tone nothing but teasing. “And in about twenty minutes. Will you be nice enough to wait for me so we can go back together?”

Bonnibel had always been the opposite to Marceline. She loved the sun and hated the cold, she preferred skirts and dresses over jeans and hoodies, and she hated the thought of conflict much more than the idea of finding a spider in the bathroom. Marceline kept this is mind when she nodded.

The coffee in her hand, still at full price because Bonnibel wanted her to go bankrupt, warmed her up considerably as she drank it in her twenty minute time frame. She spent most of her time caught between watching people run around outside in a desperate attempt to get out of the rain and watching Bonnibel clean tables.

“I’m officially off until next week.” Bonnibel announced in a huff as she fell onto the seat across from Marceline. “Also, Lady wants to say thanks for talking to Guy.”

Marceline just nodded in acknowledgement and drank the last of her coffee. “Come on then, Bennett. Let’s go home so I can get out of these wet clothes and have a warm shower.”

She did just that when they reached their room. Bonnibel buried her nose in a book and sat on Marceline’s bed as was routine and it worried Marceline just how domestic they were getting. Once a week they’d secretly watch a movie, and Marceline would fall asleep with her head on Bonnibel’s shoulder, and their friends would comment on how they __must__ have forgiven each other whenever Marceline acted friendly towards the red head.

As Bonnibel read her book and Marceline towel dried her hair there was a knock at their door. Marceline shot a look to Bonnibel, who gave her a confused stare back. Clearly, no one had texted either of them to see if they weren’t asleep.

“You’re all assholes.” She grumbled when she opened the door to see the usual group of faces, all with cheeky smiles on their faces because there was definitely something going on if they’d recruited Keila and Bongo to show up too. “Did Bonnie put you up to this?” She didn’t realise she’d said Bonnie until Keila and Lady gave her matching arched brows.

They luckily chose to skim over that and Lady instead peer over Marceline’s shoulder at Bonnibel. “Did you forget to tell her about the party?”

“No,” Bonnibel shook her head, dog earing her page. “I’m not particularly fond of social gatherings and I figured the old lady would want to stay home and nap.”

Marceline shot her a friendly glare. __Friendly__. “I’m not __old__. I’m nineteen and have four days of classes that start at seven in the morning.” She turned back to the rest of their friends. “But she’s kinda right. I just showered and I’m usually asleep by now.” Which was true; she was due a movie night and it was already a little past seven. By now she’d be drifting off asleep and Bonnibel would be assuming that she __wasn’t__ just a pillow. Which she was. Absolutely __just__ a pillow for Marceline to rest her head on.

“We’ll pester you both until you agree to come with us,” Keila said, smile even wider than it had been when Marceline let her tongue slip with the nickname. “Knocking on your door, texting you, yelling from outside your window.” Marceline shot Bonnibel a wary look as her friend started listing off all the ways they could possibly annoy them both.

Bonnibel just rolled her eyes. “I’ll go for an hour. It might take more to get the grandma outside and partying though.”

“Excuse me?” Marceline scoffed in disbelief. It was just like Bonnibel to tease her into getting her to go places, and it was just like Marceline to fall into submission and agree. “I’ll have you know I’m at my prime for partying.”

“So you’ll both come with us?” Finn had finally spoken up, shooting them both a hopeful smile.

At Marceline’s nod, there were a few quiet cheers from their friends.

* * *

 

Marceline didn’t quite know what she’d expected when she got to the dorm room that was hosting the party. Nor did she know why she was __surprised__ at the rowdy teens when they stepped inside; it was a __college__ party, not one of the tiny parties that Marceline had lugged Bonnibel to, where the fifteen year olds drank their parents alcohol and played truth or dare.

“Don’t get too drunk,” Marceline joked, leaning down to Bonnibel to speak over the loud music. “And say no any possible brownies.” Bonnibel had always been one of those kids that was against drinking, and berated Marceline countless times for drinking underage at the aforementioned parties. It had always been the red head who looked after her in the midst of a hangover, and it was always Bonnibel who took the blame for her when they got caught sneaking back into her house at odd hours in the morning.

It surprised her when Bonnibel took a shot from the table in the middle of the room, throwing her head back and drinking it with ease. Maybe some change had been made in the six years they’d been apart. But Bonnibel had also always been the one trying to prove something to Marceline. Whether that was sneaking out with her, watching horror movies she __knew__ were going to give her nightmares, or tagging the side of the abandoned train station fifty minutes away from her parents house.

“You’re deep in thought,” Jake muttered, coming up beside her to offer a beer. Marceline shook her head. “No? Figured you were all for getting drunk and partying.”

Marceline laughed and shook her head once more. “I gotta be on the lookout for her,” She levelled a finger at Bonnibel, now on her fifth shot with Lady trailing behind by one. “Can’t have her getting too drunk. She has class tomorrow after all.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. “You like her, don’t you?” Before Marceline could defend herself, he continued. “I know you’ve been all friendly with her recently, it shows in your bickering. I get it though, she must’ve done something real bad to get you to hate her as much as you do.”

Marceline hesitated, retrieved the offered beer from him, and took a mouthful. “I just don’t want her to forget what she did. If I forgive her now then… she might start acting like nothing happened.” Another swig, and then a sigh. “And sometimes… sometimes I worry that if I do forgive her I’ll end up getting rejected. I’ve said… I’ve said some nasty things to her when it’s just been us. I’ve accused her of ruining my life for fucks sake. I’m not expecting her to forgive me so easily, and neither should she.”

“I respect that,” Jake nodded. “But sometimes you gotta forget all about that other junk and just focus on what makes you happy. If arguing with her and spending all your time despising her does that then I’d suggest you find a new room mate; four years with someone you hate isn’t gonna do anything good. __But__ , on the other hand, if the thought of being friends with her again makes you feel good, try apologising. She’ll respect either decision, I mean it’s __Bonnibel__. The most she could do is talk bad about you.”

“Actually, she did kick boxing from the age of eight. I’m pretty sure she could break my jaw.” She muttered, watching as Bonnibel laughed loudly at something Finn had said. “But yeah, I see where you’re coming from.”

For the majority of their one hour stay at the party, Bonnibel continued getting more and more drunk and didn’t acknowledge Marceline’s attempts to tell her that they should just go back and watch a movie and sober up. Marceline was debating going back to her room alone when the red head finally turned to her with a ditzy smile.

“You’re my bestfriend.” She slurred, wrapping her arms around Marceline’s neck and shifting all her wait onto her. “Which means, in college, we gotta like do stuff y’know?”

“No I don’t know, and we’re not friends. Get off me.” Marceline struggled to remove Bonnibel’s hands from around her neck, much to the amusement of their friends from around the room. “We’re going back to our room, you’re going the fuck to sleep and I’m going to __kill__ you if you say no one more time.”

Bonnibel pouted, swaying backwards and giggling when Marceline went to catch from falling. “Why aren’t we friends anymore?” Bonnibel mumbled around the alcohol. “Is it because my family moved away? I asked my parents if you could come with us, you know. I wanted to steal you away and keep you to myself. That stupid boy you hung out with didn’t deserve you.”

Marceline swallowed. “Are you talking about Ash? Yeah, okay, he was an ass. But he asked me out when I was fourteen and we dated for like two years before he cheated on me so I learnt the hard way, because someone wasn’t there to tell me he was awful.”

“You dated that?” Bonnibel asked. “If that’s your taste in men I’d hate to see your taste in women.”

And that was the sentence that Marceline hated the __most__ out of everything that had happened that night, not being forced to go out, not the rain that made her shiver on the way back to their room, not even the fact that Bonnibel was __drunk__ made her seethe more than Bonnibel outing her to a room full of strangers and friends.

Marceline stepped away, not caring when Bonnibel almost fell over from the lack of support. “Screw you,” She muttered, not caring when she felt her throat go thick or her eyes prick with tears. “I __trusted__ you. To __stay__ , to __not__ tell __anyone__ what you just said, to be there for me when my mother passed away and my dad started drinking and I had to move in with my uncle because I couldn’t stay at home, I couldn’t go to your house for safety. It’s __your__  fault Ash cheated on me, it’s __your__ fault I’m like this and It’s __your__ fault that we’re not fucking friends.”

She turned around in hot rage and stormed out of the room, not caring about all the unfamiliar eyes that were on her or the fact that Bonnibel called out her name on her way out of the door.

And all Marceline could think of, was how right Jake was. She had to get a new roommate.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave a kudos/comment and don't forget to bookmark this fic! 
> 
> Support me on kofi! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	7. Open Your Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, all you need is a science documentary and some coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you listen to the song in the title and view it in either a romantic or platonic way it doesn't rly matter bc this fic is gay as fuck.  
> Content warning: a vague mention of a gay conversion centre.

Marceline had completely given up. The dean had denied every single one of her attempts at getting a new room mate. Apparently, being outed in front of a good twenty people by someone that you have to live with for four years wasn’t enough to go on to move rooms.

She’d be damned if she went back to room E13, though. Marceline had been sleeping on Guy’s couch for the entire three weeks she’d been trying to apply to move rooms, and she was extremely grateful that he didn’t pry or tell her to leave after the third day. Marceline had ignored most of her texts, too, considering the majority of them were from Bonnibel trying to worm her way out of being the guilty person in the situation. Lady wasn’t that far behind though, leaving voice mails and long paragraphs of text expressing how ‘sorry’ Bonnibel was and that their friends were all extremely ‘okay’ with Marceline being bi.

As if __that__ was what Marceline was worried about. Her father checked in on her every move, and she already knew what he’d say to her uncle when he found out she was bi. ‘Oh, Simon, the audacity of teenagers. Lying to their parents, sleeping around, falling for temptation.’ He’d probably spew some biblical crap, maybe even start going back to church, but he’d __definitely__ pull her out of college and send her to some Christian summer camp that 100% didn’t do anything illegal to young teens who just so happened to be gay.

The rejection of her father would __ruin__  her. Her friends knowing was the least of her problems, it was the other people in that room, the people she had never spoken to before, the people who were more susceptible to spreading rumours and gossiping about the bi girl with a nasty glare and heavy boots.

“You’re gonna be fine,” Keila breathed through the phone. Marceline had missed their talks about how shitty her life was and had decided to call her when she knew the others had classes. “Look, your friends miss you. __Bonnibel__  is in hysterics because she thinks you want her dead and I’m pretty sure Guy would like to bring a girl back to his place sometime soon.”

Marceline just gave a heavy sigh, dropping down onto the couch to switch the TV on. “Yeah, well. I’m never showing my face to any of those losers ever again. __Especially__ the devil. She can fuck right off with her fake apology bullshit.”

“You know she’s being genuine right?”

Marceline paused, glancing at the carpeted floor and her scuffed boots. “Yeah,” She mumbled out honestly. “But I can’t even think about her without thinking ‘Oh my god she outed me and my dad’s going to kill me’.”

“Valid. But what about if you just text her? Maybe a little ‘hey I don’t hate you and I wanna continue sleeping in a comfy bed’ would suffice.” There was another pause, and Marceline was sure she heard a male voice in the background. “Anyway, I __know__ you miss her. You sound like you’re going to cry. You never do that. I gotta go, your friends are saying something about bowling and this gal loves getting a strike.”

Marceline hung up and threw her phone down next to her. A text to Bonnibel, huh? She’d usually start off with calling her a bitch, or stating that she wanted to watch a movie and that Bonnibel should definitely buy snacks on her way home from work.

Instead she started with an apology.

 ** **Marceline (3:02PM):**** Sorry for ignoring you for nearly a month. Even though I don’t want to believe it my heart is saying that Bonnie from six years ago would never out me on purpose, and you always used to tell me my brain sucks and I should never listen to it. I forgive you for outing me. Nothing else, though. You’re still earning my friendship the hard way.

Almost a minute after sending the text she received a call from Bonnibel that made her want to throw her phone in the bin and just go to her dads stupid summer camp. She answered the call, however, because she wasn’t a coward. No sir.

“Hey,” Bonnibel hummed, voice thick from probably crying all afternoon. “I, uh, I really am sorry. I was drunk and I don’t even know why I got drunk I was just upset because you can be so mean when you want to be and I hate that you don’t like me.”

Marceline rolled her eyes despite the fact that her own emotions were overwhelming her. “Shut up, nerd. I’m not __that__ mean. You’re just soft.”

“I am,” Came the watery reply. “The minute I knew you were my room mate I thought ‘oh, yeah, I can be mean to her if she’s going to be mean to me’ but then you’d smile or do something that reminded me of when we were friends and I just started missing you again. I feel like I’m thirteen again and it’s my first month away from you.” She rambled around quiet sobs. “I just really miss being friends. Do you remember when I’d hold your hand because the movies you picked out used to scare me so much? I feel like doing that but because __you’re__ scary.”

“Hey, I’m not scary.” Marceline replied softly, a traitorous tear rolling down her cheek. “You can hold my hand whenever you want.” Her brain mentally cursed her for opening up to someone she’d sworn to hate for the rest of her life, but her heart sighed instead at the thought of having her best friend back. “And I’ll let you pick the movie tonight, alright? My back is getting sore and Guy has been pestering me for the last week and a half to get out of his room.”

Bonnibel laughed and Marceline relaxed considerably; she’d always been good at cheering the red head up. “You’re coming home? I’ll grab all the pillows and put them on your bed. Comfort at its finest.”

“You’re a dork.” Marceline said in a whisper. “I’ll come home in about an hour. You’ll have gotten off work by then, yeah?”

She heard the shifting of cloth on the other side of the phone, and Marceline could imagine Bonnibel nodding her head. “Yes. And I’ll bring you your coffee. For free, this time.”

“Well gee,” Marceline sighed, admittedly to herself. “Aren’t you the best?”

* * *

 

Marceline knocked twice before she heard Bonnibel’s usual ‘who is it?’. She certainly sounded cheerier than when they’d last spoken on the phone. Marceline assumed it was because she’d basically been promised prime time cuddles and a movie that __wasn’t__  a slasher.

“Your fiancé,” Marceline called in reply. “Of a whole year, surely we should do something about that?” The door swung open, and Marceline was graced with Bonnibel in her pyjamas and no make up and she just __sighed__. Yeah, Bonnibel would __never__ change. No matter how many years they’d spend apart she would always be pretty.

“Are you proposing marriage?” Bonnibel asked, teasing and arching her brow as she swung on the door.

Marceline rolled her eyes. “I think I proposed a while ago, but whatever.” And then she was being hugged. And she didn’t mind it as much as she thought. “I think I was promised coffee,” She said as Bonnibel led her into their room by her wrist. “And utmost comfort.”

“Coffee is on the desk,” Bonnibel replied, throwing herself down on Marceline’s bed, now sporting three more pillows than when she last saw it. “Comfort is right here.”

Marceline shuffled over to her bed, the emotional exhaustion of the days events finally catching up to her as she allowed herself to be pulled into Bonnibel’s arms. At that point she wasn’t sure if she could deal with letting Bonnibel __earn__ her friendship back. She just kind of wished that her brain would let them slip back into their places. “What’re we watching?” She asked through a yawn. “Is it a romance or something?”

“Science documentary,” Bonnibel muttered in reply. “Figured you’d want to go to sleep, and I need to watch this for my class.”

Marceline frowned. “What about holding hands because you’re scared of getting murdered by a fictional character?”

“Shut up,” Bonnibel levelled a glare at her. “We can hold hands because I love learning and you support me in my scientific endeavours.”

Marceline laughed and rolled her eyes, holding her hand out for Bonnibel to take. Bonnibel knotted their fingers together and pressed play on the documentary. Marceline would be lying if she said she didn’t watch Bonnibel’s smile grow wider at certain points, or that she smiled when Bonnibel’s big brain was working hard to remember all the little details and facts.

It reminded her of being young again. When Bonnibel had always been there for her, and she was closeted and looked up to her father. When everything was safe and she wasn’t closing her eyes at every tiny inconvenience, trying to will it away in her mind.

“Hey,” Marceline awoke to being shaken, when she’d fallen asleep she couldn’t have guessed. “Hey, our friends are outside. I forgot about the study group.”

“You’re all nerds,” Marceline mumbled through sleep, snuggling up against Bonnibel’s shoulder. “D’you want me t’leave?”

“What? No. Don’t you dare. I’ll tell them to go home.”

As Bonnibel begun to get off the bed, Marceline shook her head no. “I don’t mind. I’m sleepy. They can deal with sleepy Marcy, yeah?”

“Yeah, Marcy,” Bonnibel huffed, moving the rest of the way to stand up. “Go back to sleep, you hate studying.”

“Can’t,” Marceline lied. “You need to be my pillow.”

Bonnibel answered the door after muttering something in response that Marceline’s sleep fogged brain couldn’t quite pick up on. There was a kerfuffle at the door, and then people were entering their room.

“Hey, Marceline’s back.” Was Finn’s voice. “That’s awesome. Did you too make up?”

“Vaguely,” Bonnibel replied. “She keeps saying I have to earn her friendship, as if the way to her heart __isn't__ coffee and movies.”

“S’also sweeties,” Marceline replied, waving her hand in the air just for the hell of it. “M’tired. Are you guys sleeping over?”

There was a snort from somewhere out of Marceline’s peripherals, and she heard Lady’s voice not two seconds later. “Nope. You seem particularly cosy though, how many pillows do you need?”

“We were watching a movie,” Bonnibel defended, voice coloured in what Marceline knew to be embarrassment. “I gave her all my pillows. Ignore her, anyway, she’s half asleep.”

“I don’t know,” Jake was there too. “She might impart words of wisdom to us.”

“Go fuck y’self.” Marceline responded. “BonBon where’s m’duvet?”

“End of the bed, Marceline.” Bonnibel huffed, stepping over to pull the thick duvet over her when Marceline began struggling with sitting up. “Go to sleep, this’ll only take an hour.”

“Can’t.” Marceline repeated. “Hand is cold. I’ll stay awake.”

So Bonnibel hosted her study group with a half asleep Marceline, completely unaware of what she was saying in her dream state. Bonnibel would’ve probably blamed the coffee, but Marceline was pretty it was just the emotional rollercoaster she’d had coupled with the fact that she was giddy from essentially having her best friend back.

Still, there was still her dad to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! You! Thought about commenting on this fic before? But you chickened out? I read every one of the comments on my fics and get a warm tingly feeling whenever i do because i love hearing from y'all. Don't be chicken. It's my least favourite meat.   
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	8. Early Birdie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Punk!Bonnibel has erotic literature and changes her appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite a long note today, so if that's not your thing then I'm sorry.  
> I'm absolutely delighted by the feedback I've been getting from you guys telling me how much you love this fic. You guys have commented and left kudos and I really couldn't be happier... and then someone donated to my kofi and I may have cried happy tears because I'm broke (completely my fault) and can now safely say I checked 'Earn money from writing on ao3' off my bucket list. Your comments rly make me so giddy whenever I see them in my inbox, so thank you thank you thank you for taking time out of your day to say something nice about lil old me's writing.

Marceline remembers when she was five and meets Bonnibel for the first time. They’d both been absolutely terrified of each other to begin with, but found themselves stuck at each others side like glue. Marceline remembers when Bonnibel held her hand for the first time, remembers staring down at where they were linked together and being absolutely gobsmacked that Bonnibel wanted to hold it throughout the day.

Marceline remembers the first time they slept in a bed together, trying to be sneaky and failing miserably because Marceline’s bed was too small so they ended up making a makeshift bed on the floor in the living room. Marceline remembers when she’d just turned thirteen, thinking she was untouchable and climbing up the tree adjacent to Bonnibel’s bedroom, scaring the absolute shit out of Bonnie who was just worried about Marceline falling and breaking her arm.

She doesn’t remember their first midnight baking session, or the first time Bonnibel said she loved her, or the first time Marceline spent the night on Bonnibel’s balcony because she’d been kicked out of the house and Bonnibel had been asleep.

“Uh oh,” Pulled Marceline out of her thoughts. Bonnibel had invited Lady over for an impromptu makeover, her blonde hair pulled up in a makeshift bun while Bonnibel did her make up for her. “Someone looks deep in thought, that’s never good.”

“Hey,” Marceline feigned a hurt expression. “I can think and not do anything bad.”

Bonnibel giggled, stilling Lady’s face to apply more makeup. “She’s probably thinking about how her birthday is __tomorrow__ and she hasn’t told anyone.” At Marceline’s pout, Bonnibel stuck her tongue out. “If you don’t want a surprise party then suck it. I used to throw you a one man party when I was __ten__. You’re getting a proper birthday.”

Lady was floundering in her seat on the bed. “Her birthday is October 31st? Is she __actually__ a witch or vampire or something?”

Both Bonnibel and Marceline rolled their eyes. “No,” Bonnibel said around her grin. “She’s just grouchy and wears too much black. I can see how the two might correlate though.”

“Bitch,” Marceline muttered around her mirth. “If I’m a witch then what does that make you?”

“A capricorn, try to keep up, Marceline,” Bonnibel said, smile teasing once more. Marceline just huffed and went back to the game on her TV.

Her character was already near death, and she was nowhere near done with the mission at hand. She blamed Bonnibel for being so easy to talk to all the damn time and pressed the restart button. Looks like she’d have to start over again, get it right the second time.

When Marceline had finished with her game she took a look round the room out of boredom, only for the cover of Bonnibel’s book titled ‘Thérèse the Philosopher’ to catch her eye. She slid it off the desk, scanned the image on the front, and looked up at her friend with an arched brow.

“Bonnibel, why is there a naked woman on the front of your book?” When Bonnibel only offered her an eye roll, she tried a more teasing approach. “Didn’t peg you as a pervert, but then again you __were__ always so insistent that we get changed in-,”

“Alright, alright,” Bonnibel huffed, plucking the book from Marceline’s hands before she could flick open to a random page. “It’s erotic literature, run away nun and the like, sue me.”

Marceline devolved into hysterical laughter. “Holy shit, Bonnie, you really __are__  a perv.” When Bonnibel sent her a glare, Marceline clicked her mouth shut.

“So, when are you going to drop the facade of being all high and mighty and tell Bonnibel she’s your friend again? Because we all know she is; you guys only bicker every other day now.” Lady hummed around the… highlight being put on her? Marceline had always been __awful__  with makeup, but had definitely been in her place a few times in her childhood.

“I have to __earn__  it,” Bonnibel replied for Marceline, sending a half glare to her room mate. “I don’t even know what means. She’s acting as if I’m not the best roomie to exist ever.”

Marceline snickered. “Sure, because good roommates put their cold feet on each other and drool on their friends pillowcases. Not buying it.”

“So how is she going to earn her place as best friend back?” Lady asked, half interested in Marceline’s ideas and half interested in the finished look on her face.

“Well, she can start with tomorrow. If she buys me erotica I’ll be a little miffed, though. I’ve been hinting at what I want for my birthday since I came back from my three week stay at Guys place.”

“You’re not getting me to buy you a new __bass__. Do you know how much they cost? I’m a broke college student that’s being forced to work in a coffee shop.” Bonnibel huffed, slipping off her own bed to sit next to Marceline on hers. “You’re getting what you’re given, wad.”

“ _ _I’m__ the wad?” Marceline gasped, pressing a hand to her chest in mock hurt. “Bonnibel Bennett you take that back.”

Bonnibel crumpled her face up at her name but still shook her head lightly. “I got your gift ages ago. It was going to be an apology gift, but I think things are going well so it’s just a normal gift.”

Lady turned to the two of them, eyes lit up with an idea. “Can we do Marceline’s make up?”

* * *

 

Marceline grumbled in the midst of waking up. She still wasn’t entirely used to the mattress yet, and usually woke up with a sore neck or a freezing cold limb. Still, at least she actually slept in her bed. Bonnibel had taken any opportunity she could to crawl into Marceline’s bed (not that the latter was complaining, no sir) even when they hadn’t been watching a movie. Marceline would often wake up to a tired Bonnibel stealing most of the blankets when she hadn’t been there to begin with, and she was one hundred percent sure that whenever Bonnibel came back from her shift at the coffee shop she wouldn’t even __think__ about getting in her own bed.

But not on Marceline’s birthday, apparently. She blurrily opened her eyes to see an open space next to her, and a Bonnie shaped lump in the bed across from her. It was __very__ early morning, according to her phone that she took from the desk, and she was suddenly wide awake.

“Bonnibel,” Marceline hissed, sitting up in her bed to swing her legs off the edge. When she got nothing, she leaned forwards to gently nudge the other girls shoulder with the tip of her finger. “ _ _Bennett__. Oi,”

“Did you just say oi?” Bonnibel’s voice was thick with sleep when she turned her head to stare at a now standing Marceline. “What are you, a cocky eleven year old again?”

Marceline shot her a slanted grin. “Sure, let’s go do something naughty.”     

“Let’s do __what__? Look, I get you’re officially twenty and want to live in your rebel years a bit longer, but kinky public sex isn’t something I want to do.” And Marceline had almost forgotten how downright lewd Bonnibel’s humour was sometimes. Thirteen year old Marceline had a hard time getting the redhead to say any sort of curse word, so when she made any sort of sexual comment or innuendo the first time it blew mind.

“Pervert,” Marceline muttered, pushing her bed head out of her face. “Come __on__. I want coffee and I know you have the keys to go into the coffee place, break the rules just this once, for __me__?” She coupled her pleading with a pout; that always worked on Bonnibel.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat. “Okay, fine. As long as you drive and take me to the store.” With that she stood up and rooted around in her dressing table for an old hoodie that she slipped on unceremoniously over her pyjama shirt.

Marceline arched her brow. “Why am I wasting gas and why do you need to shop at six am?”

“It’s getting cold outside and I don’t want to put a bra or jeans on. Also, you’ll see when we get there.” Bonnibel huffed, shuffling to slip her shoes on with a frown. “Come on then, night owl.”

“It’s morning,” Marceline pointed out, putting on her own shoes and unlocking the door. “Technically I’m a morning person now.”

Bonnibel smirked. “That’ll be the day.”

* * *

 

“Why did I agree to take you to the store at quarter to seven in the morning?” They were stood in the hair care aisle of the 24/7 drug store Marceline had gone to when Bonnibel was ill. Marceline was grouchily sipping her coffee, glaring at one of the overpriced hair brushes as Bonnibel perused the shelf opposite.

“Because you were mean to me for almost two months and I got you your coffee?” Bonnibel retorted lightly. “Aha! What do you think, the darker one or the lighter one?”

Marceline turned on her heel and almost dropped her drink when she saw Bonnibel holding two boxes of hair dye, both a different shade of pink. “I- Uh, what happened to you saying you liked being a redhead?”

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. “Now that I’m taller than you I’ve decided to be the punk one.” She joked. “No, seriously, pink is my favourite colour. I’ve been wanting to try hair dye for two years now. You’ll help me dye it right?”

“Yeah, sure. Choose the lighter one, hot pink doesn’t suit you.” And then she too was perusing the aisle behind Bonnibel. “You’ll need bleach; it’ll last longer and look better. You cool with that?”

“Of course.” Bonnibel bounced over to stand beside Marceline, helping her look for a bleach that hopefully wouldn’t be too damaging for her hair but would still dye it light enough so that the pink would be visible and look okay.

“Alright,” Marceline huffed into her drink. “You’re a weirdo, but I’m going to enjoy dying your hair. I’ve always wanted to dye it black or something though.”

“Of course you want me to have my hair black,” Bonnibel said with another eye roll. “You’re the last emo alive, you need a young predecessor to carry on the legacy.”

“Damn, and __I’m__ the dramatic one?”

Bonnibel walked up to the counter with the tired looking employee sat behind it, putting the two boxes of dye (because Marceline knew you could never have enough) and the bleach down in front of her. The employee gave them a warm smile.

“It’s always nice when we get you young couples in here, gives me hope for my grandchildren.” The cashier greeted them, taking the items and running them over the scanner. Bonnibel and Marceline shared a look, used to when Simon or their parents friends would joke about them being so close. “How long have you been together?”

“Six years,” Marceline muttered around barely contained laughter. “We’re engaged, too. Getting married sometime next year.” Beside her, Bonnibel was biting her lip to stop herself from laughing.

The cashier accepted the money and bagged their items. “That’s lovely, dear. I hope to see you two again.” They left the store and immediately began laughing to themselves as they started to walk towards Marceline’s car.

“You’re such an idiot,” Bonnibel got out between bouts of laughter. “When did you decide we’re getting married next year, anyway? We’re both broke.”

Marceline snorted. “Shut up. Oh my god, do you remember when Simon thought we were dating and tried to get pictures of us holding hands?” She asked, unlocking her car and throwing the dye and bleach in the back. “I don’t think I’ve ever been as embarrassed as I was then.”

“That’s because you were a closeted bi and your dad was a christian maniac. Simon was lovely though, he was so supportive even when we said we weren’t dating.” Bonnibel laughed, sliding into the passengers seat and buckling herself in. “Are you going to dye my hair as soon as we get in or after your party?”

“Uh, I want you to have pink hair when everyone can make fun of you for wanting to be punk.” Marceline replied as if it were obvious that would be her answer. “If I speed you’ll totally call on the cops on me won’t you?”

Bonnibel’s face paled. “Marceline Abadeer if you __speed__  in this thing I’ll think about smothering you in your sleep tonight.”

Marceline just rolled her eyes. “Good job we’ve got all those pillows, then.”

By the time they got to campus, Bonnibel’s face was pink with anger. It got pinker when Marceline messily slapped hair dye on her head, though; staining her skin on her forehead and around her ears. Marceline decided the pink hair definitely suited her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Support me on kofi! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	9. Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonnibel surprises Marceline and there's a nice ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song for this chapter, like some others, has no real meaning to the chapter. Just had a relevant title and I happen to love the song itself. However, you may read into it.

The hat on Marceline’s head was already slipping off, lopsided and only remaining in it’s position because Marceline was absolutely rigid in what Bonnibel had rightfully assumed was horror and hatred for her birthday. The younger woman had giggled out something to do with how Marceline was a birthday grouch, only to be on the receiving end of her scowl.

“I would’ve thought you loved having your birthday on Halloween, vampy.” Phoebe muttered around mirth. “Seems like something that’d fit your aesthetic.”

“Her aesthetic is hating her birthday and dressing up as a vampire every year to go trick or treating.” Bonnibel said as she sat down beside her roommate, her now pink hair pulled into a messy bun. “She’s a secret loser, aren’t you Mar?”

“You haven’t earned that nickname,” Marceline grumbled. “You don’t deserve it after making me wear this dumb hat.”

Bonnibel rolled her eyes and patted Marceline’s shoulder. “Are the others still in class?” She asked Phoebe, absentmindedly twirling a few strands of Marceline’s hair around her finger. “If they make her wait any longer I think she actually __might__ drink their blood.”

“Uh, Jake and Lady are picking Finn up. They won’t be long,” Phoebe replied, narrowing her eyes at her phone screen before pocketing it. “Your hair looks really good, Bonnibel. At least I won’t get mistaken as you any more.”

“That happened?” Bonnibel asked, hand dropping to her side when Marceline pulled her head away. “Oh my god, but we’re completely different.”

Phoebe shrugged. “I dunno. Apparently Bonnibel Bennett can be tall and girly one day and short and tomboyish the next.”

Marceline snorted, glaring a little more softly now. “Bonnie can pull off your leather jackets, she wore mine when I first got it.”

“Oh?” Phoebe sent Bonnibel a teasing smile. “I’d let you pull them off, but I don’t bat for your team, no matter how many people assume otherwise.” She joked, retrieving her phone once more when she got another text. “Oh, they’re outside.”

Bonnibel stood up, much to the dismay of Marceline, and opened the door with a grin. Lady seemed to be caught on both the fact that Bonnibel’s hair was now __pink__  and that Marceline was wearing a little birthday hat that said ‘birthday girl with a zero scribbled on the end of a two.

“Okay, that’s adorable,” She decided to tease Marceline before turning to inspect Bonnibel’s hair. “This looks so cute, Bonnibel. When did you do it?”

“Early hours of this morning,” Marceline responded, sliding a finger under the string of the hat to remove some of the discomfort. “It took a little while, we watched a movie while we waited for the bleach to do its thing.”

Finn bounded into the room, then, followed by a tired looking Jake. “You’re never going to guess who got a cute girls number today.” He sang, collapsing on the couch.

“You finally asked that Hailey girl out?” Bonnibel asked as she closed the door behind the brothers. The string on Marceline’s hat snapped, earning her a scowl from the younger girl. “Did you just break your birthday hat?”

“It was rubbing on my face.” Marceline whined, pouting when Bonnibel shot over to her to try to fix it. “C’mon, Bonnie, I __hate__ wearing hats. Can’t we just eat cake and watch movies all day?”

“I’m down for cake and movies,” Jake agreed. He quickly shrank away when Bonnibel turned her seething stare on him. “On second thought, lets do whatever Bonnibel wants to do. She knows Marceline better than us.”

Bonnibel smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Jake. We’re going to go meet Keila in a local bar, let’s go.”

Everyone stared at her as she began to move for the door. “Uh, what?” Marceline muttered, standing up as the group slowly began to follow her. “Wait, are we going drinking? Are we getting drunk for my birthday. Oh, hell no. She’s an awful drunk.”

“It’s a surprise,” Bonnibel called from halfway down the hall. “Get your butts moving,”

* * *

 

The bar was pretty full when they got there and wandered inside in search of Keila. Marceline was still trying to guess what they were doing there, even when Bonnibel had shot down every possible outcome of them being there.

Even Phoebe had joined in with her ludicrous guess work. “Are we going on holiday?” Was her final guess before Bonnibel spotted Keila, Guy and Bongo at the bar with their drinks and waved to get their attention.

“Yo, Marce,” Keila greeted, nodding to the others in acknowledgement. “Are you ready to blast this place away?”

Marceline frowned, but Bonnibel was quick to be at her side with a grin. “Of course she is. What time slot did you manage to get? I hope we’re not too early.”

“Nah, we’re on in ten.” When Keila noticed Marceline’s frown, she grinned wildly. “She has no clue, huh?”

“Nope,” Bonnibel replied, popping the ‘p’ with a grin. “It’s a surprise.”

Keila rolled her eyes and laughed, taking a sip of her beer. “I mean, she kinda needs to know. At least, before we start.”

Finn’s head popped up beside Bonnibel’s shoulder. “Are you guys playing? Are those your instruments?”

Marceline glanced down at where the boys finger was pointing, and sure enough found the instruments that the college had lended them for their club, and immediately caught on to what was happening. “I’m sorry, you got me a gig? Like, right now? In front of these guys?” She jabbed a thumb at their friends.

Bonnibel presented her with an uneasy smile. “Sort of? If you don’t wanna do it I guess Keila could cancel it, but she said you’ve been wanting to play as a group for a while and-,” Marceline cut her off with a hug. Oddly, she was getting used to them again.

“Shut up, dork. That’s so fucking amazing. Thank you.” She mumbled into her shoulder. One of the upsides of Bonnibel being taller than her was that she got to bury her face in the crook of Bonnibel’s neck whenever she took a nap or hugged her. It was kind of one of the best things in Marceline’s opinion, but she definitely wasn’t going to come out and say that in front of their friends. “You’re well on your way to earning your title of best friend back.” She told Bonnie as she pulled away.

Jake snorted. “Say what you want but I’m pretty sure we all know she’s had that title for a few days now.” Marceline just stuck her tongue out at him.

“Hey, are you the whole band playing tonight?” A man asked from behind the group, a desperate attempt at facial hair on his chin. When Marceline opened her mouth to reply, he continued anyway. “You’re up. Like right now. Good luck.” And then he was gone once more.

“Well, guess it’s time.” Keila muttered around a nervous chuckle, taking another sip before she stood and shouldered a guitar case from beside Guy. “Grab your bass, Abadeer. We’re shredding.”

Marceline just snorted and followed her up to the small stage in the corner of the pub.

And all she could think about as they played their makeshift set list to a handful of students and locals in the bar, was that Bonnibel had definitely outdone herself. The coffee that morning was like the icing on the cake that they’d make later that night.

She really couldn’t stop grinning at Bonnibel; who’s pink hair really stood out in contrast against the dim lighting in the room, her lightly freckled face and dimples making it ever harder for Marceline to remember why she even hated her in the first place.

* * *

 

Marceline was __exhausted__ , both mentally and physically. The early start to her day, coupled with the gig she didn’t even know she had, had really done a number on her, not to mention all the socialising she’d done with friends and other students throughout the day. She laid flat out on her back on her bed the minute she got into her and Bonnibel’s room, eyes closed and facing the ceiling. Bonnibel had elected to getting in the bath with her non erotic literature to relax after her constant praising of Marceline’s improved abilities over the six years she hadn’t seen her play.

The clothes that were now in a pile on the floor had been stripped off the minute Bonnibel closed the bathroom door; no matter how close they got Marceline was one hundred percent sure they wouldn’t be getting changed in front of one another at all, unless absolutely necessary. The last time they did that they had been young, prepubescent and innocent enough that getting half naked in each others rooms meant nothing. Now the thought of it just made Marceline blush and wish her brain wasn’t as incompetent as it was.

“Are you decent?” Came a call from the bathroom, muffled because of the closed door. “Can you hand me my clothes from the end of my bed? I forgot to bring them in.”

Marceline huffed but slid off her bed and grabbed Bonnibel’s pyjamas, trying hard not to stare at the other woman's undergarments. She reached for the door handle and pushed it open, only for Bonnibel to be pulling at it at the same time. There was a flash of skin and suddenly Marceline was looking at the ceiling.

“Relax, I’ve got a towel around me. Thanks for the clothes.” And the door was shut again, leaving Marceline to let go of the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“Yeah, real cool, Marceline. She’s gonna think __you’re__ the pervert.” She muttered to herself with a sigh, flopping back down on her bed. She was already slipping off into that place of half awake and half asleep when Bonnibel came back through the door, turning the light off.

Bonnibel nudged her side in an effort to get her to move and Marceline was so damn tired she didn’t even complain, just rolled over and let Bonnibel clamber into the small bed beside her. There was a minute period in which Bonnibel was sorting out the duvet and pulling it up and over them both before she flung an arm around Marceline and pressed her face between Marceline’s shoulders in a weird attempt at a hug.

“I’m glad you enjoyed today.” She hummed, not bothering to remove her arm as her body relaxed considerably. “I was absolutely terrified thinking you wouldn’t go up and perform.”

Marceline let out a breathy laugh and rolled onto her back to look at Bonnibel in the dim lighting. “It was a good birthday,” She admitted truthfully. “And I like singing in front of friends; makes me feel nice when I look over at you and everyone else cheering me on.”

“I’ll __always__ be there to cheer you on.” Bonnibel said through a yawn, resting her head on Marceline’s shoulder. “You have a nice voice, it’s very calming even when you’re singing your rock and roll songs.”

Marceline just grinned widely, drifting off to sleep with a warm feeling in her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Support me on kofi! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	10. High Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marceline takes Bonnibel on a definitely-not-a-date and the latter has a late night epiphany.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so, so much with the continued support. @ My friends in the server, I love you all so much I genuinely would have given up at this point and just deleted the entire fic by now if it weren't for you guys' constant praise. Also to all my other twitter friends/mutuals thank you!!!! You're all lovely!!!! 
> 
> Double digits, baby.

It was getting a lot colder now that they were in the middle of November. Marceline was almost jealous that Bonnibel worked in a warm coffee shop with hot drinks and central heating that worked. The college was _freezing,_ and that was an understatement in Marceline’s book. She’d been wrapped up in bed waiting for Bonnibel to get home before her friends had come to collect her.

The winter clothing had been officially pulled out due to the cold weather, Marceline wrapping herself up in a large sweater and a woollen hat. Lady was sporting a long coat and gloves, and the rest of the group were also bundled up in their warm clothes.

“Where are you taking me?” Marceline grumbled, locking the room door with shivering hands. She sent a very quick text telling Bonnibel she was going out and then put her phone on silent.

Phoebe was the one to give her an answer. “We’re going to that new museum that opened up a few blocks away. Figured it’d be a cool trip while there’s nothing else to do.” She said as they walked down the hallway.

Marceline’s hand was back around her phone. “I’m gonna make a very quick phone call, I’ll be like two minutes.”

“ _ _Marceline? I got your text if that’s why you’re calling me.”__ Bonnibel’s voice came through the speaker, confusion in her voice.

Marceline smirked. “No, we’re going down to that new museum. Do you want me to come over there and wait til you get off work?”

There was a pause as Bonnibel thought about it. Marceline had her back turned away from her friends, not seeing the confused stares she was getting. “ _ _I don’t want you sitting around for an hour while everyone else is having fun,”__ Was her final reply.

Marceline just rolled her eyes at nothing in particular and stepped outside into the cold. “I can wait for you. We’ll meet up with them later or something.” She motioned to the others that they could go to the museum as she set off in the opposite direction. “Just get a coffee ready for me, yeah?”

__“Okay, sure. I have to go before my boss sees me, I’ll see you in ten.”_ _

Marceline had seated herself in her regular table at the window as soon as she’d entered the coffee shop. The few people that had ventured inside had all bundled up closer to the back of the room, away from the breeze that rushed in whenever the door opened.

“Are you just going to sit here watching me the entire hour?” Bonnibel murmured, busying herself with wiping down a few tables near Marceline. “Isn’t that… boring?”

“Nope,” Marceline said, cheeky smile on her face as she cradled her coffee. “I’m rather content with watching you clean tables and wriggle around behind the counter when someone comes in with a particularly annoying order. It’s cute.”

Bonnibel scoffed. “ _ _You’re__ cute.” They shared an awkward stare before Bonnibel turned on her heel and went back to cleaning the tables, giving Marceline a chance to drink the rest of her drink and text Finn as she waited.

 ** **Finn (4:06PM):**** Bonnibel would love it here, there’s lots of boring science stuff and a fuck ton of smarty history stuff

 ** **Marceline (4:06PM):**** smarts and science?? you seem out of your depth then.

 ** **Finn (4:07PM):**** Heyy meanie :(( as if you’d understand anything here

 ** **Marceline (4:09PM):**** maybe not but I have Bonnibel to help me out and explain everything in detail to me

 ** **Finn (4:10PM):**** idk she might just leave you to be confused… I know I would if I had to explain everything in a museum

 ** **Marceline(4:10PM):**** I would at least know some things, dork.

 ** **Finn (4:11PM):**** nah this is some intense stuff. You’d be lost

 ** **Marceline (4:18PM):**** sounds like you’re the one who thinks it’s intense. I bet I’ll fly smoothly through that place without a hitch.

 ** **Finn (4:23PM):**** yeah because you have Bonnibel on your side.

 ** **Finn (4:27PM):**** my phone’s about to die I’ll message you later

Bonnibel was just about finished with her shift as it neared quarter to five, going off into the back to presumably take off the apron and little visor before coming back out with her bag and a smile on her face.

“I’m ready for our day out,” She sang, all dimples and rosy cheeks. “I really hope they have a designated science area.” At Marceline’s eye roll Bonnibel sent her a playful scowl. “Shut up, you support me in my scientific endeavours, remember?”

“I believe you were the one that said that.” Marceline replied, standing up from her seat. “ _ _But__ I guess I wouldn’t mind being dragged through science hell with you, as long as you agree to order a pizza when we get home.”

At Bonnibel’s grin and giddy nod, Marceline found herself being pulled out of the coffee shop and into the cold by her elbow. It didn’t feel at all odd when Bonnibel slipped her hand into Marceline’s, nor did Marceline mind the stareing of passer byers. It all felt quite natural.

* * *

 

“Oh! So, this exhibit is on the six main functions of the brain,” Marceline sighed in utter defeat as Bonnibel excitedly led her towards a colourful model of a brain in the middle of __another__ large room. It turned out that the museum was incredibly busy due to it having opened only the week prior, so the chances of them finding the others had been quite slim even if Jake would pick up his phone. “So the blue part is the cerebrum, which is the main area that involves your perception of sensory information. This part is the medulla oblongata.” She giggled, noticing Marceline’s look of disdain. “Controls the regulation of your heartbeat, Marcy. C’mon this is like textbook stuff.”

Marceline pouted when she was pulled to the next part of the room. “I’ve never been less interested in reading,” She breathed, not even bothering to even try to comprehend what all those big words meant in front of her. “Shove that up your… ventricle.”

Bonnibel directed a pointed stare her way. “Okay, grumpy. You wanna go get another coffee? Find the others?”

“I’m hungry,” Marceline complained, but giving a nod all the same. “We’ve been here an hour already, can’t we come back another time?”

Bonnibel just sighed instead, the smile on her face deceiving her. “Alright, but I’m holding you to that.” There was a funny little smile on her face too that made Marceline believe every single word.

“It’s too damn cold,” Jake huffed, the breath from his mouth ascending in steam. He shot a glare at it and hurried to get his gloves on. “Why’s it so cold all of a sudden?”

“Perhaps the fact it’s winter has something to do with it?” Lady piped up behind him. She gave him a kiss on his cheek for his efforts, though.

Marceline frowned at the two of them. “It’s not __that__  cold. We’ve had colder here about ten years ago.” Beside her, Bonnibel nodded her head to back her up. “Whole place was iced up mid October. School was shut off for a long while, it was fucking amazing.”

“Awful,” Bonnibel muttered under her breath. Marceline didn’t know whether that was a comment on her swearing or the weather but she grinned at her all the same.

The walk back to the campus was pleasantly filled with Phoebe and Lady teasing Finn about his date with the girl from his class, the name of whom Marceline couldn’t remember for the life of her. It was nice to be able to have some time with everyone without snapping at Bonnibel or being chased away due to their persistent teasing and jokes about Marceline’s sexuality. Not that she minded, anyway, it was just… a conversation revolving around her? Thank you, but no.

Marceline almost walked into Finn and Jake’s room when they said their goodbyes, but was thankfully tugged away from the door via Bonnibel hooking her arm around the crook of Marceline’s elbow. A soft smile was offered when Marceline was pulled into their room.

“You were quiet coming home today,” Bonnibel pointed out, shuffling over to their desk to perch on the seat. “Everything good?”

Marceline bobbed her head, completely forgetting Bonnibel couldn’t see her. “Just thinking about stuff is all,” She lied. Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie. She’d been thinking about Bonnibel, what Bonnibel __meant__ to her after all these years of feeling lied to and betrayed.They were intrusive thoughts; Marceline knew she wanted Bonnibel to __work__ for her friendship. It wouldn’t be the same if she just let her off. Marceline swallowed, sitting heavily down onto the couch, and turned the TV on. “You weren’t particularly talkative either.”

“Hum? Oh, right, one of the exhibitions got me thinking about some research that I’m dying to do in the student labs and I was just mentally laying down the plans of it all.” She then gestured to the papers in front of her. “Jotting the mental notes down, see?”

Marceline nodded dumbly, quite happy to just let her old friend get on with her work so that they could both forget about everything. It almost seemed a little too easy to just sit and watch a movie on the channel she’d selected. Not that Marceline was complaining one bit.

It did, however, cause her to wake with a crick in her neck and a sore back a few hours later. The low lamplight allowed for Marceline to get her bearings, rubbing at the side of her neck as she glanced to the window. Bonnibel was still hurriedly scribbling down notes at the desk, uncharacteristically framed by the black sky through the window. Yeah, there’s no doubt that the pink hair looked cute on her. Marceline turned her head back to the TV, now on stand bye mode, and inhaled sharply from both the pain in her neck and the unwelcome thought.

A few minutes went by as Marceline stretched and tried to work out the kink in her neck. It didn’t take too long for her to be able move her head around without a sharp aching pain. “Hey, Bonnibel,” Marceline began, turning to her roommate once more. “What time is it?”

Bonnibel moved her head to check her watch and Marceline only then noticed the exceptionally round glasses perched on her nose. So she was still a glasses kid, huh? Marceline had to fight the smile that twitched the corners of her mouth upwards. “Two in the morning.” She replied, turning those blue, __blue__ eyes to her. “Wanna go to bed, Mar?” Marceline nodded and stood up to turn the TV off properly. The nickname she chose to ignore for both their sakes.

Marceline went into the bathroom to shuffle out of her clothes and change into some comfy pyjama bottoms and an old baggy shirt she’d gotten on sale a year ago. When she left the safety of the bathroom she noticed that Bonnibel had done the same thing and was now shuffling her papers into different piles, her glasses were then folded and put into her designated top drawer.

The lamp was switched off as Marceline clambered into her bed, shuffling all the way over to the wall so that Bonnibel could slide herself in and bring the duvet up to both of their chins. The darkness allowed for Marceline to really (but not really) look at Bonnibel without being judged too much. To take in the smell of the other girls shampoo and the way her eyelids fluttered closed at a yawn. The silence was also far too overwhelming for her to concentrate.

“I miss you,” She let slip, biting her lip __hard__ and cursing herself for eternity at the mistake. There was a little voice in Marceline’s head, drowned out by the voices saying she was an idiot and that Bonnibel was still an awful person, that was telling her that that was the right thing to do. Perhaps Jake or Lady had influenced that part of her brain, or maybe it was just her longing to be ten and without a care again.

Despite the darkness, despite the fact that Marceline’s eyes hadn’t adjusted yet, she saw Bonnibel’s cheeks raise in a smile. Whenever Bonnibel smiled a proper, genuine smile she did so with her entire face. Her eyes would crease, or close, and her nose would wrinkle up in an oddly endearing way. “I’ve missed you too,” And she was crying. Of course she was. “How many times do I have to apologise? I feel like if I say sorry one more time I’m going to lose all meaning of the word.”

Marceline fought the urge to roll her eyes. “You don’t.” The small voice in the back of her head had influenced the rest of them, it seemed; her brain was __screaming__ at her to forgive and forget completely. “I… just need time to work everything out in my head. It’s hard when you’ve thought someone out to be a huge bitch for several years only to realise that no, they’re exactly the same person as before.”

There was a sniffle and a sigh. “I understand. Really, I do.” A pause. Marceline inched ever closer to the other girl. “I don’t know… I get that this is a comfort thing too.” Bonnibel gestured between the two of them. “But sometimes it just fills me with so much hope that maybe things will go back to when everything was good between us.”

“Soon,” Marceline mumbled, sleep beginning to lull her into unconsciousness then and there. “Promise. Just don’t apologise any more. There’s really no need.” There were a few moments of silent that were enough for Marceline to drift off, absolutely dead to the world.

And Bonnibel was left to figure out a way to pick up the pieces and glue them both back together again. She’d have to start with Marceline first; there was no way she could do it on her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, please, please think about commenting/leaving kudos/bookmarking because it increases the likelihood of people seeing this do so well and clicking on it and reading it and !!! maybe get inspiration to write!!!! that's always been the goal, homies. The views are nice too, though; makes everything feel worthwhile. 
> 
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	11. Crystal Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The song the title of the chapter is based off? Gorgeous, i want to die to that song. Also, relevant to most of this fic.   
> Anyway; it's snowing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bless y'all who voted on the poll on twitter. No smooches here.

Marceline swore under her breath. She’d accidently cut herself _again_ and was beginning to severely regret not taking Bonnibel up on her offer to help out. Also she was bleeding. Which was a huge downside considering she had already had to stop the task at hand several other times, _and_ they were almost out of bandages.

Onions weren’t going to cut themselves though, Marceline decided, suckling on her thumb and reaching for the last band aid. “We need to go to the store later,” She mumbled around her own flesh, glancing over her shoulder at Bonnibel and Phoebe sat on __her__ bed. Finn, thank god, was sprawled across the sofa.

She continued on with preparing dinner, just a simple dish of spaghetti bolognese shouldn’t be as hard as Marceline was finding it but the amount of accidents she’d had was putting her at a severe disadvantage time wise.

“It’s a shame that it’s fifty percent your dna,” Bonnibel had apparated behind her all of a sudden, almost resulting in another knife to skin accident. “Let me take over?” She asked quietly, doing that extremely unfair thing with her eyes. She even stuck her bottom lip out too, just because she could.

Marceline sighed and passed her friend the knife. “Don’t burn it this time, yeah?” She teased, referencing the week prior to when Bonnibel forgot to put the pasta in boiling water. “If this place goes up in flames I’m not taking any responsibilty.”

“If this place goes up in flames I’ll drag you down with me,” Bonnibel responded tartly. “You’d do the same thing.”

Marceline opened her mouth to say otherwise, but found that Bonnibel was indeed correct. “Bitch,” She said instead. Bonnibel just gave her a little smirk in return and watched from the corner of her eye as Marceline collapsed into her pastel themed bed. “ _ _Fuck__ , Bonnibel.” She half sighed, face down in Bonnibel’s pillows. “You never said your bed was insanely comfy.”

Bonnibel narrowed her eyes. “I remember saying a few months ago that your bed felt like a brick but you wouldn’t even listen to me. You just said ‘sleep time’ over and over again until we both were too tired to argue.”

At that, Finn snorted from the couch. “Dorks.” He snickered, not even fearing the death glare that Marceline shot him.

“We’re sleeping in here forever.” Marceline breathed. “I don’t care if it’s a little smaller than my own.”

“It’s a lot smaller.” Phoebe added, scanning the beds to make sure that yes, her comment had been correct. “You’ll be on top of each other, I’m pretty sure that’s not good for you spine.”

Finn had obviously heard that wrong, judging from his unbridled laughter and the fact that he slipped off the couch and onto the floor red faced and out of breath. Marceline rolled her eyes. Boys would find anything remotely sexual about a comment and latch onto it like a lifeline.

“When are you two leaving,” Marceline complained loudly, voice entirely muffled by the mattress below her. “I want to eat dinner and sleep already.”

“You can nap right there, Abadeer.” Phoebe narrowed her eyes. “No one’s stopping you.”

Marceline sighed heavily, too embarrassed to say that no she really couldn’t just nap right there on Bonnibel’s bed; the scent of her roommates shampoo was quite frankly intoxicating and she missed having something warm to cling to. She could feel the look that she was being given by Bonnibel, and she could __see__ the smile on Phoebe’s face that let her know that she’d been caught. Thank god Finn was busying himself with her console.

“Yeah, alright,” Phoebe muttered, electing to stand and grab her stuff. “C’mon, Finn. We’re leaving these two to sleep and eat. Call us later, Bonnibel.” Finn didn’t really have a say in being pulled out of the room, he just kind of spluttered inaudibly and reached his hands out to the controller on the couch. Then the door was clicked shut.

“My bed’s too small, Marceline.” Bonnibel hummed as she walked over, leaving the food for just a minute. “C’mon, I’ll see about getting you a new mattress if you care that much.”

“No,” Marceline just whined when Bonnibel grabbed her ankle, drawing out the vowel much like a kid having a tantrum. “Bonnibel, please, just for one night? I wanna be comfy.”

With a defeated sigh Bonnibel let go of her ankle and turned to grab the handful of pillows on Marceline’s bed, throwing them directly at Marceline’s head.

“If you’re planning on sleeping here I’m going to need some help plating the food.”

Marceline had never sat up as quick before.

* * *

 

Bonnibel was slipping a sweater on over her head. The fabric settled comfortably around her frame, covering the too small pyjama shirt she’d been wearing all weekend. Her hat and scarf were next, the latter wrapped carefully around her neck so that it provided warmth and was at a comfortable tautness.

Marceline kept the thoughts of how she thought Bonnibel looked cute in her winter gear to herself; there was still that line of thought that was telling her to let things happen naturally between them. If they were to be friends again the relationship would rekindle slowly. She hoped. Babbling about how pretty Bonnibel looked and that she missed her oh so dearly wasn’t organic, nor was it very productive. But then again, they __were__ going to go out in the snow at four in the morning on a weeknight, so maybe productiveness wasn’t high up on their to do lists. Go figure.

“It looks so soft,” Bonnibel wondered aloud, big blue eyes peering out the window for the upteenth time. “I haven’t seen snow in so long.” Marceline went to tell her that if she liked snow so much she should’ve stayed, but clicked her mouth shut when Bonnibel turned to face her with a big grin on her face. “You ready?”

Marceline nodded slowly, only clad in some tatty jeans and her pyjama shirt. She wasn’t planning on going out for too long; she valued her sleep like most people valued money or a relationship.

When Bonnibel squealed because of the sound of the snow crunching under her shoes, Marceline realised just how hard it was going to be to go back inside before Bonnibel was done. The other girls childlike wonder was delightful, yet made Marceline feel so very nostalgic.

The pink haired girl twirled around the empty parking lot, looking back at her trail of footprints behind her, and then looked up at Marceline with a wide smile. “Are you coming over here, grouchy?”

Marceline pouted at the teasing nickname, but made her way over to Bonnibel in the center of the empty space, eyeing her curiously. It was increasingly difficult not to ask Bonnibel for a hug then and there, or to tell Bonnibel how much she’d love to be friends again, or to tell her she looked pretty in a somehow insulting way.

“’S cold,” She mumbled out instead, looking up at the snow drifting down slowly. “And wet. Can we go back inside now?”

“Congratulations,” Bonnibel giggled, completely disregarding Marceline’s last request. “You’ve just described snow. Want a medal?”

Marceline’s mouth upturned into a smile. “Hell fuckin’ yeah I want a medal. You hoarded them when we were thirteen, remember?”

“That’s because I did all my homework.” Bonnibel retorted, playfully (and carefully) pushing Marceline away. “And you __stole__ one of them.”

Marceline scoffed and turned back to the door, fully intent on heading back inside before she got a cold. “I stole the crappiest one I could fine.” She muttered over her shoulder. “And you had plenty to spare, don’t act like it was a big-,” __Pft__. “Hey!”

Bonnibel stood in shock for a few seconds, watching as Marceline wiped the snow off of her back to the best of her abilities. Then she was laughing. “I didn’t think it would hit.” She said between chortles, hands up in defense when Marceline shot her a playful glare.

“You do physics and maths, Bennett.” Marceline pointed out, steadily making her way over to the only car in the lot. She scooped up her own handful, sculpting it into a semi perfect ball. “I __know__ you knew that would hit me,” And at Bonnibel’s guilty smile, Marceline assumed she’d hit the nail on the head with that one. Bonnibel wasn’t expecting an overarm throw, evidently by the fact that she just stood there laughing when Marceline threw the snowball directly in her face. __Bingo.__ “Two can play at this game, Bonnibel.” She called, going the length of the car to get some distance behind them.

Bonnibel chose to duck behind one of the benches and use the snow on the surface to her advantage, lobbing three carefully aimed shots at Marceline. __Pft. Pft.__ “Fuck!”

Marceline retaliated with a few shots of her own, most of which were wide or missed by a centimetre. She swore under her breath, ducking down beneath the bonnet of the car as she desperately tried to make several more. A few more __pft’s__ were heard before a minute of silence. Marceline peeked out from her cover, narrowing her eyes at the bench but only finding no one there. A surge of panic ran through her then; had someone quickly taken Bonnibel?

“Got you!” Was the first thing she heard, and then she was being wrestled to the ground and Bonnibel was piling snow on top of her with childlike laughter. Marceline’s wind had been knocked right out of her the minute Bonnibel had pushed her to the ground in her successful surprise attack, so she heaved in breaths between bouts of laughter.

“You _ _cheater__ ,” She gasped out amidst her pathetic retaliation of grabbing a handful of snow and gently smushing it against Bonnibel’s face. The other girl just continued giggling, leaning back to kneel at the side of Marceline’s legs. “I’m soaking.” Marceline complained, sitting up and wiping away her now sodden hair from her face.

“Oh hush up you big baby,” Bonnibel cooed, voice still somehow managing to be soothing. Marceline blamed her dimples. “C’mon, let's go back inside and wrap ourselves up.”

Before Bonnibel could even stand up, Marceline caught her wrist. “Wait,” She swallowed. She hadn’t really thought ahead this far. “I, uh… I- This was fun.” Stammered out of her mouth, ascending into the air in a white mist. “Thank you.”

Bonnibel frowned, but it was hard to miss the spark of hope in her eyes. “What’re you thanking me for?”

 _ _That__ was a loaded question. Was Marceline simply just thanking her for forcing her out in the snow, or was she just… thanking her? Even she didn’t know the answer, not really. “I don’t know.” Marceline managed out a mumble. “Just… thanks for being nice about things. Thanks for being Bonnie.” Bonnibel’s little smile had somehow managed its way into the crook of Marceline’s neck.

 The cold around them didn’t really seem that bothersome all of a sudden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Support me via kudos, bookmarks and comments! Also my kofi! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	12. You'll Always Be My Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Progress and pizza.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter one today, but a longer one later. Thank you for your feedback as always!!

The message on her phone made her feel shitty. Just six words of pure _venom_  hidden under a simple request. Marceline glanced back at it once more with a frown just to make sure she hadn’t dreamt it up.

 ** **Dad (12:02PM):**** Are you coming home for Christmas?

 _ _No__ , was her immediate thought upon deleting their chat altogether. Bonnibel was staying on campus, and Marceline wasn’t going to let her stay in their tiny room alone in the cold. Especially because they rarely slept when they weren’t together. Marceline wanted to sleep in comfort, drowning in pillows and the smell of Bonnibel’s hair, not in her old teen bedroom that made her back feel sore and achy all the time.

When she looked back up at the rest of her friends with a glare she caught Jake’s eye. “What’s got you in a mood, sourpuss?” He asked, grin on his face just a bit too teasing for Marceline’s liking.

“Nothing,” She grumbled. “Where’s my coffee?” Looking over her shoulder told her that Bonnibel was frantically trying to get the line down as fast as possible. Coffee would be later than usual, then, Marceline assumed. Her phone buzzed once more and she immediately glared at nothing in particular.

“You sure it’s nothing?” Jake continued. “You’re acting as if you’ve only just been told that Bonnibel is your roommate. That’s never a good thing.”

Marceline snorted despite herself. “Family stuff,” She admitted, turning back to the table once more as soon as it looked like Bonnibel was handling the line well. “Doesn’t matter.”

Jake gave her an odd look, somewhere between confusion and concern, before Finn got his attention with an elbow to the ribcage. Marceline slowly released the breath she never knew she was holding. The rest of the table all busied themselves with different things; Finn and Jake were bickering over something that Finn had showed him on his phone, Phoebe and Lady were writing their respective essays, and Keila was on her phone, probably texting Bongo and Guy. It was nice that Marceline could just sit at the same table and not be at the forefront of the conversation. Whenever Marceline was the topic it made her feel uneasy because of how much she’d been at the centre of high school gossip and drama. Nasty rumours had been spread about not long after Bonnibel had left and Marceline had immediately recoiled from the spotlight.

“Coffee for the grouch,” A gentle reminder that she wasn’t in high school any more pulled Marceline from her thoughts. Bonnibel’s dimpled smile was at her shoulder and a coffee was being placed in front of her. “Sorry for the wait. It’s not usually this busy.”

Marceline shrugged, glancing back at the queue. “It’s cool. Out of your hands, right?” At Bonnibel’s hum the pink haired girl turned and walked back to the counter, already smiling at the customers. Marceline was just pouting at her shoes to pay attention to anything else around her. Being the centre of attention was awful, sure, but whenever Bonnibel spared a minute of her day just to direct that smile towards Marceline made her feel extra special. Mainly because she felt like she didn’t deserve after what she’d said about her. They both knew that Marceline could be a bitch when she felt like it, but neither of them would have ever thought she’d have directed that meanness towards __Bonnibel__. Hell, even saying her full first name was difficult for Marceline to adapt to; she’d gotten so very used to shortening it down and coming up with dorky nicknames for the other girl that just thinking about saying ‘Bonnibel Bennett’ made her mouth dry. Marceline decided not to put __too__ much thought into that train of thought, and instead closed her eyes and enjoyed her coffee.

* * *

 

“Are you cold?” Was muttered into Marceline’s pillow. Marceline shrugged her shoulders, pressed her face into Bonnibel’s shoulder, and let a terrible sigh rip through her. Almost instinctively, Bonnibel’s hand found its way into Marceline’s hair. “Tell me what’s wrong with you, I’ve noticed you’ve been particularly blue today.”

“’S nothing,” Marceline whispered, eyes readjusting to the laptop screen on Bonnibel’s knee. She didn’t even know what they were watching, just that it was boring and wasn’t even good for background noise. “Can’t I just go to bed?”

Bonnibel smiled into the pillow and turned her head to look at Marceline. “It’s too early to sleep,”

“Can we put something else on, then? This is… just no, I’m not even sure what’s going on any more.”

“Can we eat first? You’ve only eaten breakfast and I’m starving.”

“If you order pizza I’ll find a good movie that we can sit on the couch and watch.”

Their eyes met in a shared agreement, and Bonnibel was the first to shift off the bed to search for her phone. Marceline was suddenly very glad that Bonnibel wasn’t as socially inept as she was. If that were the case she was sure their pizza consumption would drop by one hundred percent.

She was also glad that she didn’t pry too much into Marceline’s life, Marceline decided as she stood up from the bed and stretched. The thought of telling Bonnibel that she was too scared to text her father back __terrified__ her more than Hunson ever could. Vulnerability was not something that Marceline was accustomed to. Especially when as a child she was the tough skinned fighter out of the two of them.

“How does Home Alone sound?” Marceline muttered over her shoulder, smirking when she saw Bonnibel pause in her order to think about it. Her answer was a mouther ‘yes please’ and Marceline picked the movie out from their shared collection in the last drawer. They had both of the original movies, which were most definitely the best out of all five of the Home Alone franchise.

She slid the DVD into the player and busied herself with pushing every button on the remote that wasn’t the one she needed. Thank god Bonnibel finished their order and came over to pluck the remote from her hands.

Marceline grabbed her duvet and their pillows and threw them onto the couch, tossing herself down amongst the makeshift bed. It wouldn’t surprise her if they ended up sleeping on it afterwards anyway.

With a graceful fall, Bonnibel sat down beside Marceline with a smile. “Are we going to wait for the pizza or should we just start the movie?”

“Movie,” Marceline decided immediately. “It’ll help pass the time. Waiting for it always takes too long.”

“True. And we eat it before the plot even starts.” Bonnibel giggled. Marceline allowed for the younger girl to wrap her arms around her waist, pushing all her weight into her side so that they were both laying down.

“Uhm, you mean you eat it all and blame me when I’m basically half asleep anyway?” Marceline shot back when they were both comfortable, clicking play on the movie and tangling their limbs together.

“Exactly,”

“Dork.”

“Grouch.”

* * *

 

Marceline had been awake for longer than she’d like to ever admit to anyone. It was almost therapeutic to listen to Bonnibel’s soft breaths, almost too relaxing to throw an arm around Bonnibel’s waist and bury her face into the back of her head. Bonnibel being taller than her definitely had its advantages. For one, there was just more Bonnibel for Marceline to snuggle up to at night in secret, and despite her reactions she kind of liked it when Bonnibel teased her about being suddenly smaller than her.

She also liked it when Bonnibel was fast asleep. Marceline could whisper the things that would otherwise terrify her so much, she could pull her impossibly closer and not think too much about what she’d think or do in response.

“You’re my best friend.” Was probably the scariest thing she’d ever whispered into the dark. It took her a few minutes to even decide that what she’d said was even correct; her brain was too busy working overtime to try to figure out if she’d even said it, and __why__. She nodded anyway, gently so that she wouldn’t wake Bonnibel up, and sighed into the darkness. “Yeah, you’ll always be my best friend.” She decided, this time her voice a little more sure of itself.

Everything felt easier in the dark. Marceline could admit her deepest darkest fears and Bonnibel would sleep through it all and be her unconscious confident. So it made her heart stop when Bonnibel shifted and turned in her ‘sleep’ to stare wide eyed up at her.

“I am?”

Despite the voice in her head telling her to get off the couch and leap through the window, she managed out a raspy reply. “Of course.”

Her brain switched off completely then, her heart doing the work instead as it beat almost too fast to be considered healthy. Marceline had a dreaded feeling that Bonnibel could feel it. “Does this mean we’re… friends again?”

“I think-,” She cut herself off, buried her face deep into the crook of Bonnibel’s neck to avoid her scrutinizing gaze. “I think we’ve been friends for a while. Just… I want to hold your hand more often and I want to go back to how everything was. Minus the heartbreak at the end.”

Bonnibel’s smile was blinding even in the pitch black. “So I don’t have to earn it back?”

It took both of them too much willpower not to start giggling out of giddiness when Marceline shook her head, but it piked her curiosity when she saw her phone screen lit up for a split second before she went back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Support me via bookmarks, kudos and comments! Tell your friends! Donate to my kofi! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	13. She's So Lovely

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marceline has definitely not been flirting with Bonnibel. At all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I take a week off from updating and y'all start thinking I've abandoned it? Well I haven't. So there. Updates will unfortunately be every week now, though. I have work to do and unfortunately this isn't a paying job.   
> On with the show!

“ _And are you enjoying yourself?_ ”

“I guess?”

“ _ _What did you do for Christmas? Did you pray?__ ”

“What? No, I’m not even religious why would I-,”

“ _ _How are your classes?__ ”

“They’re __fine__ , dad. Please, just hang up now.” Marceline waited for her father to huff down the phone before he hung up, leaving her to shift uncomfortably under the stares she was being given from her friends.

Thank god Bonnibel showed up when she did, a drink in each hand and her regular dimpled smile on her face. Marceline was pretty sure that if she was a minute slower Jake would’ve opened his mouth to ask a question and she would’ve evaded them to the best of her abilities.

One of the drinks delightfully found itself in front of Marceline, who released a pleasant sound of surprise before she wrapped her cold hands around the cup. She’d much rather have her friends call her out for being friendly with Bonnibel again without telling them than ask about her family life.

“I’m __so__  glad we’re married.” Marceline mumbled into her cup. “No one else at this table would bring me freebies from work.”

Phoebe snorted. “That’s because we’re all struggling to find work. Bonnibel really beat us to the ‘cute barista’ job.”

Marceline stopped herself from saying anything too incriminating about Bonnibel being more than suitable for the job. Instead she just sat and sipped her drink, eyeing Bonnibel as she settled down in the seat beside her. An arched brow was in order, considering there were chairs available that weren’t in her personal space. “Trying to sit on my knee, Bennett?” The pink that tinged Bonnibel’s cheeks was worth the slap on the arm she received.

“You say that as if you don’t share a bed.” Lady perked up from her place beside Jake. “In fact, I’d bet money that you’ve sat on each others knees before.”

It was Marceline’s turn to blush then, much to the amusement of Bonnibel. “I don’t like being attacked.” She grumbled around her embarrassment.

“Aha! So it’s true?” Even Finn was against her, it seemed. “Who sat on who?”

“I sat on Marceline’s lap.” Bonnibel explained. “Mostly because Marceline was too much of a self proclaimed punk to even consider sitting on my knee.”

Marceline aimed her pout Bonnibel’s way. “I’m __still__ punk.” She huffed, narrowing her eyes. “I have a tattoo and everything.”

Bonnibel sent her a pointed look. “One tattoo and a scary ear piercing isn’t punk. At most you just look like a delinquent.” And just because she could, Bonnibel reached up and gently tugged at Marceline’s demonic ear spike.

Phoebe and Lady were reduced to laughter. Finn had returned to Jake’s phone, smiling at something his brother was showing him. Marceline just continued half glaring and half pouting at Bonnibel.

“Marceline is way too soft to be a punk,” Lady concluded, finishing her homework and passing Phoebe her pen back. “And I say this as a nerd, surrounded by other nerds, who happen to be your friends, Abadeer.”

Marceline just scowled at nothing in particular.

* * *

 

Jamming with Keila and the guys was beginning to feel like second nature to her. Every Friday and Saturday Marceline would walk across campus to Keila’s dorm, bass guitar in its case, and look forward to spending a few hours making music and talking shit with her friends.

Keila’s couch was comfier than the one in Marceline and Bonnibel’s dorm much to Marceline’s relief. Guy and Keila opted to sitting on the floor, Guy with his keyboard and Keila with her array of guitars. Bongo didn’t have much choice with his drum kit, but usually sat on Keila’s bed when they were coming up with new ideas.

“We’ve been doing this for over an hour now,” Bongo complained, clearly tired of the chord progression they were trying to perfect. In all honesty Marceline was getting bored of sitting around discussing the same thing too. “Can’t we go get coffee? Or see a movie?”

Keila shook her head. “There are no movies on today and Bonnibel isn’t working right now so Marceline can’t flirt her tits off, our best bet is going out for lunch.”

“I can do lunch,” Guy agreed. “Wanna go to the sandwich place down the road?”

Marceline was already spluttering. “I’m sorry. What do you mean __flirt__. I’ve never flirted in my entire life,” That was a lie. “I might as well be Mormon.”

“It was a joke, no need to get so defensive about it.” Keila teased. “You do seem really keen on complimenting her behind her back when she’s cleaning tables, though.”

Marceline just spluttered some more, eyes widening at every word that came out of Keila’s mouth. “It’s __Bonnibel__ ,” She gasped, because __everything__ Bonnibel did was cute and worthy of praise, even if Keila didn’t know. “I wouldn’t flirt with her, we were friends when we were tiny.” Which, okay, was another lie; Bonnibel had practically insisted that they ‘practise’ on each other when they were twelve, in case a boy gained either of their interests so they could flirt naturally. In retrospect Marceline should have known from then that they were both __not straight__ , Bonnibel was __awful__  at complimenting boys and Marceline… well, it wasn’t at all important what Marceline did back then. She blinked. “I wouldn’t flirt with her in a million years.” She rasped, hoping to __god__  that it sounded convincing enough.

The guys seemed persuaded enough, both standing up and gathering their things from around them. Keila, though, had a hint of mischief in her smile. “Sure, whatever you say.”  

Because of how cold it still was they decided to jump in Bongo’s car and drive down instead of walk for half an hour in the bitter wind. Marceline wasn’t too fussed, as long as they got there in one piece. Which, with Bongo driving, didn’t seem very likely.

Marceline took a breath of relief when she stepped out of the car and zipped her jacket up to her chin. She wasn’t particularly unused to the cold, but she had always preferred comfort to the chilling bite of winter.

Her eyes land unfocused on the large window looking outwards from the sandwich shop, narrowing them to peer inside at the… __familiar__ -

“Hey, look, they made it.” Keila announced around a smile as Marceline vaguely made out the faces of Finn, Jake, Phoebe and __Bonnibel__.

Marceline expects it to be one of Keila’s ever magnificent plans; Lady wasn’t there to see the fruits of her labour so her being behind it was out of the question. The plans were less annoyances now that Marceline found Bonnibel to be good company, anyway, so they weren’t exactly ever brilliant and scheming as Keila and Lady thought them out to be.

Still, it was always nice to be told what was happening rather than being jumped by a sudden social outing. Marceline had assumed they’d grab lunch together and go home, not potter about talking to each other about all the things they did over Christmas. She had enough of that with her father. However, that is exactly what they did.

And Marceline decided she didn’t mind it one bit.

It was snowing again. Lighter than the first snowfall, but still there nonetheless. Marceline and Bonnibel had ditched the rest of their friends early, noticing the darkening sky and not really interested in staying there for another two hours talking about classes and other uninteresting topics. A movie, though? Yes. They were both quite content with putting __The Thing__  on netflix and falling asleep together.

Bonnibel was twirling along the sidewalk, childlike wonder still there as she peered up at the flakes falling from the sky and smiling wide. Marceline watched her from a couple paces behind, smiling into her collar because of how damn __cute__ Bonnibel was.

“What’s been bothering you, grouchy?” The younger girl stopped her twirling and fell into line with Marceline, linking their arms together just because she could. “And don’t say nothing because I know you and you’re being all moody.”

Marceline pouted. Nothing could get past Bonnibel’s keen eye. Well, some things could, but only if Marceline willed herself to not look into her big blue eyes. “My dad,” Today was no different than any others, however, she couldn’t help but smile up at Bonnibel’s freckled face. “He wants to come over and __visit__. As if I want him anywhere near me right now.” She shivered at the thought of her father coming into their dorm room and asking Bonnibel if she enjoyed breaking Marceline’s heart.

Bonnibel must’ve thought she was cold, or she probably just knew what was going on in Marceline’s brain, because she pulled her in closer. “Let him. He’ll see you prefer living alone, see that you’re doing just fine living independently, and he’ll let you get a flat somewhere in town away from him.” Bonnibel murmured around a little smile. “And, while you’re at it, tell him you’re bi. You’re __twenty__ and he needs to learn you’re your own person.”

Marceline hated it when Bonnibel was right, which was ninety percent of the time because Bonnibel was right about everything and her big brain was an unfair advantage, so a pout was definitely in order as a reply. “I guess you’re right.” Marceline mumbled. “But not right now. Later in the year, maybe? Two months. That’s… fine, right?”

At Bonnibel’s response, a chaste kiss on the cheek and a smile as she twirled away from Marceline’s arm, Marceline knew that it was a good plan.

Here’s to hoping that it’d actually work, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill, give this work kudos, bookmark it, comment on it!   
> And head on over to my kofi and support me w/ a couple quid (that's british slang for £3). https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	14. Jealous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I gave Marceline my illness... and my obliviousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks, this chapter is brought to you by the discord server! I don't have much to say except a big thank you to those that have left kudos/commented/bookmarked this fic. We're almost at 18k hits because of y'all!

The door creaked open unbearably slow, a streak of light flooding the room as someone entered the dark dorm room. It hurt. Marceline groaned, screwing her eyes shut and pushing her face further into her bundle of pillows, blankets and duvets. Being ill was something she was gradually getting used to this week, it seemed. It hadn’t gone away by the second day like Marceline had assumed it would, instead it just stuck and made her life harder than necessary.

At first it was a stuffy throat, usual considering the colder weather, but then there was the sore throat and constant migraines that followed the days after. When she was little she’d get ill more often than not; her shitty immune system sitting back and letting every virus a child could safely get fester in Marceline’s red blood cells. Or… maybe the red ones. She wasn’t there for that particular science lesson.

Finally the door clicked shut, giving Marceline the chance to wearily peer up at her intruder. _Oh, Bonnibel._ She was home from work earlier than usual, a small smile gracing her face and Marceline’s entire life. “Hey, hun,” She practically __cooed__ , seating herself on the edge of Marceline’s bed to press a pleasantly cold hand to her fevered forehead. “How you feeling?”

“Hurts to breathe,” Marceline wheezed, not sure whether the heat was actually from her being ill or something else. “I drank that tea you made, turned me really sleepy and I had a nap.”

The smile turned impossibly sweeter as Bonnibel removed her hand. “Glad to know. Did you like it? It was chamomile.”

“Your old woman drink?” Marceline started, scrunching her face in mild disgust. “It was okay.” At Bonnibel’s cute laugh that she got in response, she shot her friend a glare and pulled her blanket up to her nose. “Just because I drank it doesn’t mean I liked it.”

The other girl just rolled her eyes and stood from the bed, much to the displeasure of Marceline. “I wasn’t laughing at your obvious lie.” She teased. “You’re cute when you’re ill. Reminds me of when you were little and skipped weeks of school because of a cold.”

Marceline’s glare would’ve become more pointed, if the migraine starting in the back of her head didn’t stop her. She stuck to a pout that made Bonnibel smile as she opened the drawers overflowing with her clothes. “ _You’re_ cute.” She replied without thinking and then added in an afterthought, “I didn’t mean that.”

And Bonnibel, sweet dimpled Bonnibel who had been the teachers pet for several years and who wore pastel colours on the daily, turned to Marceline with a dark and teasing smile. “Sure you don’t.” If Marceline hadn’t have been so ill her brain would’ve picked up on exactly what Bonnibel was saying. Instead, she just sneezed into her duvet. “You’re weird. Are you having a study group over again?”

It was the only logical explanation for Bonnibel being home early; she usually worked late on the days she didn’t have a study group, and Marceline hadn’t seen the usual gang surrounded by school work in a while.

“Of sorts. I have a girl from my chemistry lectures coming over.” Bonnibel hummed as she disappeared into the bathroom, only to come back out for a towel seconds later. “She’s due to come any minute so if you could shout her in that’d be great.” The door was clicked shut.

It took longer than usual for Marceline to tap out of the weird pervy side of her brain that made her think about the fact that Bonnibel was getting undressed and stepping into the shower. Far too long. She’d gotten used to that side of her brain, though, the same intrusive side that told her to step out into heavy traffic or leap from a bridge. Yeah, exactly the same side.

Suddenly too warm (she blamed her fever rather than the naked Bonnibel imagery), she kicked off her mountain of blankets and stood on wobbly legs. Underneath her the floor felt like jelly, and as she took four steps towards the couch she almost tripped over her own feet.

The knock on the door made her sigh. Bonnibel’s chemistry girl was far too on time for Marceline’s liking, stepping over to the door with a hand outstretched in case she fell. She swung the door open and her eyes focussed on the brunette girl in front of her.

“Oh, you’re not Bonnibel.” Chemistry girl commented, eyes flicking from Marceline’s face to the room beyond her. “I’m Brook, her study buddy? Is she here?”

“Yeah,” Marceline nodded, her sore throat turning the word into a rasp. “She’s showering at the moment. Come on in.”

* * *

 

When Bonnibel had said that her and Brook were going to study Marceline had assumed that the goody two shoes would have kept to her word, not disregard the half finished essay to let the other girl braid her hair and tell her how smart she was.

It weirdly made Marceline seethe. She knew there was no need to get so… _defensive_ over her friend, but watching as Brook stroked her fingers through Bonnibel’s hair and praised that big brain of hers. It was most likely the fact that it used to be her playing with Bonnie’s hair and telling her how much of a genius she was. Marceline decided that she disliked Brook.

“You were glaring at her,” Bonnibel commented as soon as the door was closed, ridding the room of Brook and her wiles. “Jealousy isn’t very becoming of you, Marceline.” She said then, when all Marceline could do was roll her eyes and clamber back into her blankets.

Marceline snorted in reply and reached at the bottom of the bed for her laptop. “Not jealous. Just… cautious. She set my radar off.”

“You think she’s gay?” Bonnibel teased, all too naturally nudging Marceline to the side so she could settle beside her on her bed. “Or are we talking about your obvious jealousy radar?”

“She isn't gay,” Marceline shook her head no. At least… she hoped Brooke wasn’t gay. If Bonnibel had invited her over just then as a _date_ … it made Marceline’s stomach squirm in discomfort. “Too… straight.”

“Relax, jealous.” Bonnibel continued, resting her head on Marceline’s shoulder. “I’m not replacing you as best friend. She’s just my designated lab partner and she sits next to me for the lectures.”

Marceline nodded and picked a movie from netflix without being told. And then a thought came to her mind. “But if she was…?”

“But if she was gay you’d still be my best friend and she’d _still_ be my lab partner, Marceline.” Bonnibel soothed, rubbing a hand on Marceline’s arm. The other girl just exhaled slowly. “Geez, you really were jealous weren’t you?”

“Not jealous.” Marceline repeated, glancing down at Bonnibel. “Just… you mean a lot to me,” She blushed when Bonnibel peered up at her with a small smile. She could’ve sworn Bonnibel’s eyes flicked downwards for a split second, too, but the sleep and illness that fogged her brain was messing with her vision. “I don’t like the thought of someone new coming in all of a sudden to take you away. Even with our friends I know that you’ll be coming home with me and you’ll be watching a movie with me and… I don’t know, it’s nice to be assured by stuff like that.” It didn’t cross her mind how possessive that sounded until Bonnibel opened her mouth to respond.

“I’m not just for you, Marceline,” It almost sounded stern, but Marceline knew her too well to know that the reason for her thick voice was sleep. “But… I get it. Your mum died and I left and you’ve got me back again, that must be a weird mix between euphoria and misery.” And then she sighed, their closeness causing hot air to blow against Marceline’s chin. Marceline can’t remember the last time they’d been this close; the inches between them filled with comfort and familiarity. “I guess that explains your enviousness though.”

Marceline went to open her mouth, but Bonnibel had lifted her head to peer up at her and then there really wasn’t that much space between them at all. If Marceline ghosted closer her nose would trace Bonnibel’s cheekbones, and closer than that would tickle skin with eyelashes, and ever closer still would mould lips against lips and-

Bonnibel’s phone began ringing from her bedside table. It pained Marceline to watch as Bonnibel peeled herself away, pick up the phone and answer with an amazingly sweet ‘hello’. It pained her more when Bonnibel sat herself down on her bed, telling the caller that yes, she absolutely could talk right no and no she wasn’t doing anything important.

Marceline just grabbed another tissue from the box on the floor, blowing her sore nose into the soft fabric and willing herself to focus on the film playing out in front of her. Sleep didn’t come easy that night.

Marceline blamed everything but Bonnibel falling asleep in her own bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that supporting me on kofi is much appreciated and is only £3, but absolutely not mandatory: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP  
> And for those of you in the comments wanting to leave more than one kudos, tell your friends about this fic! Share it on twitter (and tag me in it @abadeerly)! Show it your grandma! Your dog! Make them accounts!


	15. Oh, It Is Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I wrote 3k words that actually killed me and Marceline realises a few things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun note: this was over 4k words but i had to remove a few paragraphs while telling myself 'not yet' and 'that's too much right now'.... this chapter pained me to right in the best way possible.   
> Enjoy!

The sky’s dark grey clouds that coalesced told Marceline it was a rain day, as it had been for the past week and a half. Guilt had been weighing down in her stomach for that amount of time too, and there was a weird thought in the back of her head that wondered if she could control the weather. That particular thought however was gone when she tried to make herself happy with the thoughts of the days could be events and the clouds didn’t immediately disappear.

“ _ _Why__?” Marceline whined around a still very sore throat. Her aching joints and fevered skin had gone, leaving just the sporadic coughing fits . It was the world's cruel way of telling her that no, she wasn’t going to be singing any time soon and that cough sweets weren’t a cure all for these types of things. Still, her favourites were the strawberry ones and she was thankful that Bonnibel got her some (and had remembered) the other day. “Bonnie, you’re __twenty__.”

Bonnibel purposely wasn’t looking at her as she pouted and gave her the best puppy dog impression she could muster up with the remnants of a cold. Instead, the young girl opted to continue with the college work strewn across her desk. “You forced me to have a birthday get together but won’t even let me throw you a party a __week__ after your birthday?”

It was then that Bonnibel’s tired eyes turned to peer up at Marceline. “You felt forced?”

“Wha- _No_ I was messing around,” Marceline mumbled, draping an arm around her friend at how sad she looked. “I just… want to throw you a party. Please?” She’s not even sure why she wants to so badly; Bonnibel had never been fussy about doing something for her birthday, and it had taken Marceline asking her parents to find out that Bonnibel had been born on the 20th of January 1999. The redhead had always been strangely secretive about things like that, and she’d always been adamant on not celebrating her birthday, more so than Marceline had been. Marceline assumes it’s because in the years without Bonnibel she’d always wish her a happy birthday in her head without anyone knowing, and now she gets to celebrate it with her and make her smile. At least, she hopes that’s the reason, not the overwhelmingly nice sensation in the pit of her stomach whenever she so much as steps into a five meter radius of Bonnibel. She still had to find a name for that.

With a big sigh Bonnibel nodded her head once and continued writing something scientific onto her paper. Marceline didn’t think twice about tackling Bonnibel with a hug, though, even when she squawked her name and nearly fell off her chair. It felt especially nice when Bonnibel snaked her arms around her in response and didn’t let go until Marceline’s alarm went off to tell her she should be heading down to Keila’s dorm for a jam session.

Marceline was just a little bit late to Keila’s dorm, getting too much enjoyment from burying her face in Bonnibel’s hair, inhaling the strawberry scented shampoo the other girl liked so much.

* * *

 

To buy pink bunting or not to buy pink bunting? That was the question that plagued Marceline’s mind as she stood in the store in the party aisle. She’d told Bonnibel that she would be staying late at Keila’s in a successful attempt to have Bonnibel make plans with Lady outside of their dorm room, the latter of which was texting her with updates on their afternoon outing. Finn and Jake were on food duty, what with Jake being an excellent chef (according to his girlfriend) and Finn being good on the visuals side of things. Phoebe had been pulled out with Lady and Bonnibel for a girls day out, much to her sarcastic delight over the phone.

“I can’t believe you’re trusting the Mertens brothers with baking a cake for your girlfriend.” Keila mumbled around the straw in her mouth, why she liked the cheap soda from the store Marceline would never know, but it certainly kept her friend happy while she shopped.

“Not my girlfriend,” Marceline muttered, eyes narrowing at the purple bunting on the top shelf. “And Lady said if Jake put his mind to it he could be a chef, so.”

“What about Finn, though?”

“I trust both of them to call the fire department if necessary,” Was Marceline’s only response, taking the pink decorations and turning to Keila. “Should I get pink balloons to match or would that be overkill?”

“Overkill,” Keila nodded, reaching out to toy with the corner of a bag of balloons. “These ones could be nice, different shades would be less jarring yeah?” She pulled the bag from the shelf for Marceline to read ‘4 shades of pink balloons’. Some of them were lilac, but Marceline took them with a smile and rounded the corner with her selections.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she almost dropped the decorations as she fished around for it with her free hand.

 ** **Lady (2:25PM):**** Bonnie is wanting to head home after we watch a movie. You better be done in under two two hours, Abadeer.

 ** **Marceline (2:27):**** Relax, we got the decorations and Jake is still silent on his end, if this party goes to shit blame your boyfriend

 ** **Lady (2:28):**** I will not. I’ll blame your bisexual ass for wanting to throw your girlfriend a party.

 ** **Lady (2:28):**** Fiancé*

Sometimes it irked her just how much Keila and Lady were similar. They both loved teasing her about her closeness with Bonnibel, evidently, but Keila and Marceline were close the way Lady and Bonnibel were too. Keila had even opted to hang out with Lady alone once, probably gushing over boys or her and Bonnibel’s relationship.

Still, Marceline didn’t rise up to the teasing. She’d be labelled as defensive and teased evermore, so she instead pocketed her phone and got to buying the decorations and balloons.

* * *

 

Finn had completed his finishing touches on the top of the cake, wavy pink icing on top of the white sugary fondant that coated the cake as a whole. The Merten brothers had done a great job with the cake, much to Keila and Marceline’s surprise, even adding a little pink crown on top of the ‘o’ in Bonnie (Bonnibel had been too long to put on the cake, according to Finn).

“If you drop this Marceline will whoop your ass.”

“ _My_ ass? What about your ass?”

“My ass will be going in soup, Finn. _Soup _.__ ”

“How does that even work? Will she make the soup first or-,”

“Shut _up _.__ If either of you drop that cake I’ll mount your heads on my wall.” She hissed, bringing her fingers to pinch at the bridge of her nose. Finn and Jake came to an abrupt stop almost immediately, faces paling comically. “Keep. Moving.” Marceline growled as she stuck them a harsh glare and pointed a finger down the hall. Why the boys had to bake the cake in Lady’s dorm room Marceline had no idea, but it certainly meant that manoeuvring the cake between dorms was a flaw in whatever their plan had been.

 ** **Phoebe (3:49PM):**** We’re out of the movie, better get your butts a wigglin if you haven’t already ;)

 ** **Marceline (3:50PM):**** Mine has been wigglin all day, thank you very much. Tweedle dee and Tweedle dumb? Not so much. Everything should be up in time, though, thank you!

 ** **Phoebe (3:50PM):**** No problemo, Marceline. What sort of friend would I be if I didn’t help you woo Bonnibel, eh?

 ** **Marceline (3:52PM):**** I was being nice to you, meanie.

 ** **Phoebe (3:52PM):**** I’m the meanest.

Marceline rolled her eyes at Phoebe’s texts, pocketing her phone when the brothers had came across a door in their path and looked to Marceline to help. The door was a push and a scathing glare was sent to Jake to just really get across that time wasn’t on their side and Marceline was already having heart palpitations at the thought of them being late to the surprise party, never mind the idea of the cake matted into the carpet of their hallway.

They got to the dorm room before four, thank god, and Marceline was sure she would’ve fainted then and there if she didn’t care so much about being in attendance for the party (and seeing Bonnibel’s tired smile on her face).

“What happened to the banners? Did you lose them?”

Keila shrugged. “We didn’t pick up anything to hang them up with. I’ve only just noticed.”

“We have tape in the top drawer,” Marceline huffed, mostly to herself, as she paced over to the kitchen drawers. She very quickly found the roll of tape she was looking for and (a little afraid she was coming across a little too tense) gave Keila a smile as she passed it to her. “Try to hang them all up before Bonnibel and the others get back, yeah?”

She tried her hardest to ignore the increasing anxiety and panic bubbling in her stomach when her phone pinged in her pocket too many times to keep count. One of them was definitely Bonnibel; she usually always texted her when she was back on campus after a day at work or having been out with friends.

With the cake set down on the coffee table, and the decorations and balloons scattered haphazardly with care about the room, Marceline and her friends waited with baited breath for Lady, Phoebe and Bonnibel to open the door and walk inside. Finn had somehow found the time to get some party poppers, handing them to Jake and Marceline, and Keila had one of those noise makers that didn’t work half the time dangling from her mouth. Marceline hoped to god Bonnibel would be entirely okay with them ruining their dorm room for her birthday. She didn’t really have a back up plan, and the gift she had gotten her wasn’t exactly refundable. Still, Marceline could think of worse things for Bonnibel to be mad about, like Marceline calling her a bitch for a month straight and holding a petty grudge for over five years.

Marceline wasn’t even going to go down _that_ line of thought; whenever she thought about Bonnibel being angry at her a surge of guilt and hatred for __herself__  surged through Marceline’s body. If Bonnibel left once more she didn’t really know how her heart would cope, or if it’d even survive the initial loss.

The door handle turned down, creaking open unbearably slow as the girls beyond it were already deep in conversation, “-Guess she’s cute, but I’m certainly not-,” Whatever Bonnibel had been saying before she entered the room was immediately drowned out by loud cheers, the popping of the poppers, the obnoxious sounds from the noise makers, and Marceline had never felt pride like this before, because Bonnibel’s face turned into a look of part shock and part confusion before a cute little smile crossed her features.

“You’ve made a mess of our dorm room,” Was the first thing that came out of her mouth, a few pieces of confetti landing in her pink hair. Marceline almost wanted to move over to her and brush it away as gently as she could. “I hope you’re cleaning it up.”

“Of course,” Marceline scoffed lightly, crossing her arms and ignoring the very sly smile she was being given by Lady, too scared to wonder why her face was so teasing all of a sudden. The way Bonnibel was smiling was far too distracting, anyway. “So you’re not… mad?”

Bonnibel’s face crumpled back into confusion once more. “Mad? Why would I be mad?”

Marceline wanted to shrug and tell her that she was scared of doing anything wrong ever in case it’d mess up their friendship, but instead Jake beat her to a reply. “She’s a weirdo, come on Bonnie, we made __cake__.” And that was all any of them needed to start Bonnibel’s very own one week late pseudo birthday party.

Naturally, Bonnibel made a beeline towards the cake. It was almost comical, just how predictable she still was to Marceline. She’d always had a sweet tooth for as long as Marceline could remember, choosing sweeties and sugary buns over her five a day any time. She remembers being vaguely shocked hearing that Bonnibel had gotten a cavity before she had, and even more surprised when Bonnibel had gotten her third long before Marceline had even gotten her second.

“Are you going to make a wish?” Lady asked. Marceline should’ve found it weird that Lady was looking at her instead of Bonnibel, but paid no attention to the blonde as Bonnibel peered all dimples at the cake in front of her.

“I’m not allowed to tell you guys, right? Otherwise it won’t come true?” At her friends nods, Bonnibel screwed her eyes shut, a tiny furrow to her brow when she began think about her wish. Marceline took this opportunity to gather up some of the icing from the edge of the cake onto her index finger, swiping it against Bonnibel’s freckled nose when the younger girl opened her eyes and blew out the candles. “Hey-!”

“ _Cutie_ ,” Marceline found herself saying, sticking the finger in her mouth and humming in delight at the taste. “God this is _good_. If the rest of the cake is anything like this I’ll be more than impressed, Jacob.”

Jake shot a friendly glare over to her, but was immediately cut off by Phoebe turning on the stereo. The playful arguments and teasing could come later, for now there was dancing like no one was watching them and more than likely getting noise complaints from their neighbouring students. Marceline found that she didn’t really care one bit. Not with Bonnibel’s smile on her the entire time.

* * *

 

“Abadeer?” Marceline paused in her gathering of the confetti now littering her bed and the floor, glancing up at Lady and the others who were already halfway out the door. “Can we talk for a minute?” The blonde was hanging off the door frame, a smile on her face from the activities that evening. To be fair, Marceline couldn’t seem to rid her own grin even with the dull job of cleaning up while Bonnibel busied herself with sticking her nose in a new science textbook Keila had gotten her.

“Yeah, sure.” The bin bag was set down on her bed; she’d __have__ to get round to throwing the rest away at some point, and if it was obstructing her sleep then it was ten times more likely to happen that night. She crossed the room with a sigh, throwing one last look at Bonnibel settled happily down on the couch before closing the door behind her.

“I think she really appreciates today,” Lady began, smile on her face widening when Marceline failed to fight the look of pride on her face. “You did good today, Marceline. Y’know, Considering you hated her for six years.”

Marceline stopped herself from rolling her eyes, scoffing lightly instead as she leaned up against the wall behind them. “I could never. I think everyone knows that.”

“Everyone knows you have a big girl crush on her too,” Lady laughed. “Seriously, though. It’s so obvious, even _Finn_ asked if I knew whether you two had a thing for each other.”

“First of all, you give that boy no credit at all. Secondly,” Marceline sighed, having to really think things through with this answer because okay, yes, Marceline at aged twelve kind of thought she was in love with Bonnibel when they kissed in her dads shed for ‘practice’. And _yes_ Marceline sometimes had more than friendly thoughts about the other girl. But did that mean she had a crush on her? “I don’t like Bonnibel that way.” She came to a conclusion, not liking how much it sounded like a lie. “The first time I met her she picked her nose and wiped it on a door. That’s hard to unsee, Lady.”

Lady’s face went from teasing to laughter in a heartbeat. “I guess childhood friends falling in love is way too cliché, huh? Well, glad to know you don’t have weird predatory intentions. I’ll see you later Marceline.”

Even when Lady was out of sight, even when Marceline closed the door and went back to cleaning up their mess, even when she fell asleep with her face buried in Bonnibel’s hair, all Marceline could think about was _oh shit._

She was so incredibly in love with her best friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, supporting me on kofi is £3 and means a lot to me (but also you don't have to at all): https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP   
> Comment!!! Tell me what you thinks going to happen!! Tell me about a spelling/grammar mistake!!! Tell me if you don't like my shirt!!!! Comment!!!! Don't forget to tell your friends/other bubbline fanatics about this, the more exposure this gets the more likely i am to explode from happiness. And if you haven't already, leave a kudos and bookmark this for later!


	16. Build Me Up, Buttercup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter in which i finally lead up to that one trope everyone's been telling me they can't wait for. Oh, and there's a visit from a character i was debating to actually introduce properly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! before we begin i want to say i set out for this chapter to be the normal 2k words and... i very much almost doubled it. the word count is around 3.9k-- eek!

“ _Jake_ ,” Finn’s voice echoed across the outside dining area, eliciting cold glares from the few students lounging around that weren’t apart of the group of seven sitting besides their campus building. “You’re not _funny_.” It was contradicted by Finns boyish laugh as his brother threw another ball of snow at his face from across the table. The weather had been kinder to them as February drew to a close, and what was left of the snow was being used as a mushy weapon by Jake Mertens to annoy his younger brother.

“Clearly you think it is,” Jake responded, sending another snowball arching Finns way. He managed to duck out of the way (somehow) but was laughing too hard to dodge the fourth and final shot against his chest. “Are you going to answer my question? Has my little brother got a _girlfriend_?”

Finn’s face flushed a brilliant deep red as he sputtered out a response. “I don’t know, girls are complicated and scary.”

“Word,” Marceline chimed in, glancing up from her guitar to grin at Finn. “Have you got a third date with her at least?” Finn shook his head. “Come __on__  man. Text her or something, you can’t just leave her in the dark.”

“Since when were you the girl expert?” Keila cut in before Finn could answer, sending Marceline a thick arched brow. “Surely Bonnibel, the _lesbian _,__ should know about girls more than a straight girl does.”

“Wait-,” Jake was back in the conversation, apparently. “She doesn’t know? Oh my god, I thought she was your best friend. This is _priceless_.”

“Shut up, Mertens, before I turn you into-,”

“Wait what don’t I know? Are you a lesbian too? That makes so much __sense.__ ”

“I’m not _gay_.”

“You’re both half wrong. She’s-.”

“ _Mertens_.”

“Soup. Got it.”

The table fell silent, Keila looking as though she’d solved world hunger and Jake looking far too amused for Marceline’s liking. Even Bonnibel was smirking gently to her book. Marceline inhaled sharply, turning to Keila with an explanation.

“I’m bi. __Yes__ I know I should’ve told you and before you say anything about things making sense you are _wrong_.” She huffed, knowing Keila’s brain would’ve jumped to the same conclusion Lady’s had. “I think I’m more than qualified to teach Finn about girls.”

“I don’t need to be taught about girls,” Finn wriggled in his seat. “They’re just confusing sometimes.”

“No we’re not,” Marceline groaned. “We like things that’ll make us smile. Bonnibel likes dorky shit, Lady likes artsy stuff, Phoebe likes… whatever it is that Phoebe likes, Keila likes collecting expensive music equipment and I like strawberries. It’s really not that hard. Ask your girlfriend what she likes.”

The look on Finn’s face was enough to make Marceline slap him. “Wait- Firstly, she’s not my girlfriend, secondly, _strawberries _?__  Is that all? I would’ve thought… maybe a guitar or a really soft pillow.”

“Thirdly, I like more than just dorky things.” Bonnibel chimed in, the smile on her face making Marceline’s heart do somersaults. “I like sweets, you know that.”

Marceline rolled her eyes. “Dork shit and sweets, gotcha. Anything else?”

“I also quite like reading. Oh, you can add bowling to that list too.”

“Bowling sucks.” Marceline muttered in distaste. “But whatever you say, dork. Books, bowling, candy and dork stuff. Same things if you ask me.”

“In what world does bowling and eating sugary foods equate to sticking your nose in a good book and having a hard on for science?” Lady asked, teasing smile partially hidden behind her warm drink.

It was Bonnibel’s turn to stutter and turn a bright red. “I-I do __not__ have a-a… a __hard on__  for anything.”

“Dork,” Marceline muttered around her amusement. “Not even hot girls? With… I don’t know, their thighs on full display? I can’t think of anything __more__ worthy of a hard on than that.”

Lady sent her an arched brow through her bouts of laughter. “ _Thighs_? Come on, Abadeer, you can do better than that. Bonnibel definitely seems more of a butt girl. Or… I don’t know, why not just a whole naked woman? I’m straight but even I can see the appeal of a naked woman.”

Marceline had never seen Bonnibel as red before. At least not since she tried justifying having their second first kiss in her bedroom at half past three on a school night; her face had lit up light a christmas tree, her whole body flushed with the embarrassment of a twelve year old asking her best friend to kiss her in her bed. Yes, this was very much the same colour wise.

“You’re all so _distasteful_.” She managed to get out around her spluttering. “Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I have a hard on for every naked woman.”

“Not every naked woman,” Marceline interrupted. “Just… a naked woman. Any woman you choose. Preferably one you have a lady boner for.”

“Damn, you _are_ bi.” Keila snickered from her seat. “How’d I miss that?”

“You didn’t miss it,” Lady replied for Marceline, sending her a dark smile in the process. “You just didn’t know you were right.”

Marceline desperately wanted to know what on earth that had meant, but then the the little jingle that let students know that the next period was starting sounded and both Keila and Lady stood with the boys and Phoebe. Bonnibel remained seated with her nose in her book, the red in her face still there but not as dark as it had been. It was still considerably more pink than usual, however.

“You don’t have any lectures right now?” Marceline asked around a smile, unable to contain it when Bonnibel’s reading glasses slid down her nose. It was stupid how cute she was. Like, insanely stupid. So stupid, in fact, that Marceline felt like an idiot for falling in love with her. Well… love was a strong word. Marceline wasn’t even sure if she __did__ like Bonnibel; she just wanted to hold her hand and keep her close at night, and she wasn’t going to deny that kissing her sounded like the _best_ possible thing in existence. Marceline blinked. Right, definitely in love with Bonnibel.

“-is sick and I’m probably learning more out of this than I would there,” Marceline tuned in for the tail end of Bonnibel’s response, trying desperately not to look down. “What about you? Are you gonna bum around all day playing your guitar in hopes a pretty girl walks by?”

Marceline snorted and began fiddling with the strap of her guitar. “I dunno, I was going to do whatever you wanted to do today. If sitting here playing the guitar while you read for the rest of the morning is something you’re interested in doing, then let's do it.”

The smile that bloomed on Bonnibel’s face was worth the dumb excuse for ‘I want to sit and stare at you for a couple more hours’. “You know I like hearing you play music. So… yes. I need my background noise.”

And Marceline was more than fine with being Bonnibel’s background noise if that meant the little curve of her mouth would stay on her lips.

* * *

 

“You’re not meant to be here for another week,” Marceline hissed, keeping her hand tight around the door handle of her dorm room. She’d just gotten back from her afternoon jam session with Keila and to unpleasant surprise she’d stumbled upon her father walking down the hall in search of room 13E. Naturally, he was as clueless as ever when Marceline wedged herself between him and the door, and her group of friends studying on the other side. “Can’t you… come back next month? Or, gee, I don’t know… never?”

“I wanted to see my little girl, Marceline,” Her father cooed, trying once again for the door handle. “Why aren’t you letting me in your room?” And then a look of delight crossed over his face. Marceline internally groaned; her father delighted by something was never a good thing. “Have you got _boys_ over.”

“I don’t think you could class either of them as _boys_.” Marceline grumbled under her breath. Finn and Jake were more like _toddlers_ than anything. Fun toddlers, though. The smile on her dad's face was unwavering, and Marceline felt herself sigh and shut her eyes against her will. “If… If I let you in will you promise me the next time you plan a visit you _tell me_ about it. I gave you my number for a reason.”

Her father _pouted_. When Bonnibel pouted it was adorable and heart melting, when _Hunson_ did it Marceline felt her soul shrivel up and die. “You ignore my texts, Marceline.”

“Fine.” Marceline was already done with the conversation at hand and pushed the door open, allowing her body to swing back with it and press against it when her father entered the room.

Whatever studying or conversation was going on before the door had opened had been immediately halted in turn for her friends to stare perplexed at the man in a business suit now stepping across the room to stand in between the TV and the Mertens brothers on the couch.

Her father scanned the room with a stern face, only breaking into a grin when his eyes landed on Bonnibel sat on her bed against the wall, surrounded by papers and textbooks and with her laptop on her knee.

“ _Bennett_ ,” Hunson exclaimed. “It’s been so long. How did you meet Marceline again? Oh, do tell me you’ve made up with her again. She really hasn’t been the same since-,”

“ _Daddy_ ,” Marceline grouched, still clutching the door handle as if it would save her from this embarrassing situation. “Please just _stop _.__ She’s my roomie, alright?”

The smile faded as he _apparently_ remembered a particular snippet of conversation they’d had six years ago about Bonnibel being a _lesbian_ and _oh, Marceline, please tell me she hasn’t tainted you with sin._ “You’re sharing a room with her?”

“Hello Mr Abadeer,” Bonnibel greeted with a wave. Marceline was oh so thankful of her calmness in situations like these. “Yes we’re sharing a room and, as you can see, there are two beds. Absolutely no lesbian activity can occur within this room, what with your daughter being straight and the beds being far too small for both us to fit.” Finn and Marceline snorted loudly, the former immediately silenced by an elbow to the ribcage. Marceline, however, was sent a scathing glare by her father.

“You think this is funny?” He muttered darkly. “She could be turning you to _sin_ , Marceline. Please, we need to get you out of this college. I can find you a different one at-,”

“ _ _Actually,__  daddy-kins, I’m staying. I’m more than fine with her turning me to sin, whatever that means, and you can leave if you’re uncomfortable with a lesbian in the room. She’s my friend.”

Her father was nothing but stubborn. “I cannot possibly leave you in a room with a… a _temptress_ and her two male companions.”

Another snort, this time from Bonnibel. Marceline beat her to whatever she was going to say. “You were literally just joking about me having boys over, dad. Which, valid, considering I’m bisexual as fuck _ _.__ ”

The amount of emotions that her father’s face went through should’ve been enough to get him some sort of award. He took a step towards her, then a step back, as if he was worried that she would suddenly start making out with a girl right then and there. “No.” Was all he could say in response, voice grave. “Not my daughter.”

“Your daughter is very bi,” Bonnibel chimed in. “Has been for a while now, actually. I knew before I left.”

That must’ve made Hunson rethink everything that had happened in Marceline and Bonnibel’s relationship. Heck, it looked like their friends were slowly piecing together how they’d both came to the conclusion that they were not straight at all. Which was just grand, really. Nothing better than having all your friends realise their assumptions had been correct. It would make for an interesting conversation later on, that’s for sure.

He muttered something under his breath that Marceline couldn’t hear but made Bonnibel frown before he straightened his back and gave her a stern look. “Maybe you are correct. I will not visit you again, Marceline. Goodbye.” And he left with a careful stare pointed at Bonnibel.

“That was your dad.” Lady observed thoughtfully. “I don’t like him.”

“Join the club,” Marceline huffed, throwing herself down at the desk chair and spinning herself around to face Bonnibel. “You wanna do something after you’ve finished studying. That was exhausting and I wanna forget he exists.”

* * *

 

Bowling. Bonnibel had suggested bowling of all the activities the group could possibly do around town. Marceline had gone along with it begrudgingly, trying hard not to think too much about the way her diaphragm dipped whenever Bonnibel directed her smile towards her.

“C’mon, Abadeer,” Phoebe flounced up beside her on their way to their designated lane. “We’ll do teams of two, you and me versus the guys, Lady and Bonnibel.”

Marceline snorted, shaking her head politely. “I want Bonnie on my team, she cheats.”

“I do _not_ ,” Bonnibel gasped from behind them. “Just because I use maths and physics to help me win doesn’t mean I cheat.”

Marceline rolled her eyes, the slant of her mouth curving higher. “Uh, you’re a genius. Ergo, you’re using that big brain of yours to cheat.” She even span on her heel to rap her knuckles lightly on the younger girls temple. “Plus if you’re gonna get a strike every bowl that means I can slack off and watch your cute lil butt over think the entire game.”

“That was particularly bisexual of you to say,” Lady hummed as the group found their lane and sat down on the plastic chairs offered to them. “And if Bonnibel wants to use her smarts she can. I wanna at least beat Jake’s ass.”

“Me and you then?” Phoebe sat herself down at the little machine to input their names. “I’m calling Jake ‘soup’, just because that seems to be an inside joke for some reason.”

Marceline snorted. “Just put me as M and I won’t put you in the soup with him.”

“Sounds a little broth-y,” Jake joked, sliding up next to Marceline to peer at the screen where Phoebe was typing out ‘Nerd’, presumably for Bonnibel. “Will Finn be in the soup, too? What about Lady?” Marceline rolled her eyes, about to go along with Bonnibel and Finn to get a ball before Jake lowered his voice a pitch and nudged her ribcage. “What about you and Bonnibel? Or do you get your own soup?”

“You’re awful,” Marceline grumbled despite the urge to splutter out something defensive, wriggling away from Jake’s elbow to follow the others. “ _And_ I’m going to kick your ass at this game, Mertens.”

Finn was already picking out a pale blue and white bowling balls, seemingly one of the heavier ones by the way he kept it close to his chest with both arms. Naturally, Bonnibel had picked out a deep bubblegum pink ball, glossy and glittery and oh so very the Bonnibel Bennett that Marceline remembers to have had an entirely pastel pink bedroom from the age of eight to thirteen. No doubt Jake and Lady would be going with the matching swirly rainbow ones, and the orange and red ball just screamed Phoebe with it’s solid colours, which left Marceline with a shimmering iridescent black bowling ball, shimmering deep blues, greens and purples when hit with light at a certain angle. Yes, that ball would do just fine.

“Are we really doing teams?” Finn whined when he stepped up to the lane, arms strained from the weight of the ball in his hand. Marceline had the faint idea that he was showing off, for some unknown reason that only a straight man would be able to answer. “If Bonnibel is going to cheat surely we should see how well Marceline will do on her own.”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Marceline grumbled from her chair. “Just bowl. We’re gonna win.”

“Actually,” Bonnibel chimed in, chewing her bottom lip as she glanced over at Marceline. The simple action caused Marceline’s insides to melt and swirl in her abdomen, and it was with great difficulty that Marceline stopped herself from staring at her friends mouth for too long. “I’m with Finn. This isn’t school any more, Marceline. You can do your own work now.”

“Ouch,” Phoebe whispered, leaning against the back of Finn’s empty chair to mutter into Marceline’s ear. “She got you good, Abadeer.”

Marceline just rolled her eyes, watching as Finn hit two of the pins down in his first bowl. “I’m capable of beating Jake’s ass by myself. It’s just nice having a little help, you know?”

“I bet it is,” Phoebe nodded. Finn knocked another three down and retreated back to his chair with a frown. “Lady’s up next!”

Marceline found herself almost enjoying a game of bowling for the first time in over ten years. It usually reminded her of her mother and uncle, taking her to a now closed down local bowling alley during her summer holidays.

She ended up coming fourth, above Jake thank god but below Finn and Lady. Bonnibel won by a landslide, of course, getting a near perfect score because Marceline had interrupted her thinking process and she’d miscalculated by a fraction. Still, Phoebe wasn’t as much of a sore loser as Bonnibel was a sore winner, and congratulated Marceline on sticking to her word and kicking Jake’s ass at a game that she didn’t even enjoy.

Bonnibel was radiating with pure joy even as the pair walked back alone (the others had promised Finn one more round _without_ Bonnibel and Marceline, mostly because Jake was butt hurt and Finn was way too into bowling than he probably should be). Marceline was quite content with smiling at Bonnibel as she half walked half bounced down the path, humming a little song because she was just _that_ happy about winning a game that she was obviously going to win no matter what.

“I nearly got all strikes.” Bonnibel sang giddily, twirling on her heel to face Marceline while walking backwards. Marceline had to wipe the grin off of her face immediately; replacing it with a smaller, more friendlier smile and adding an eye roll just for good measure. “If you hadn’t yelled my name from the arcades I would’ve had a perfect game.”

“Sorry I was a dick hair away from getting a crappy key chain from those two pence machines.” Marceline grumbled, scuffing the toes of her boots on the pavement below. “It was going to be the prize for first place.”

Bonnibel pouted, leaving Marceline feeling absolutely devastated over how fucking cute and sad she looked at the same time. “What’s my prize now?”

“I’ll hold your hand when we cross the road.” Marceline muttered, remembering when she’d said a similar thing once before in an attempt to get Bonnibel to stop singing. Bonnibel’s smile was worth the half blush that crept up the back of Marceline’s neck.

“Good,” She decided, twirling back so that she was facing the correct way. She still fell back in line with Marceline though, linking their hands and smiling sweetly down at her. “Oh, and I need to ask you something. A favour.”

“Oh goody,” Marceline huffed sarcastically. “I do love favours from you, Bennett. What was that one favour I did for you that ended up with me in a tutu?”

“Hush up, I just thought you’d look cute in it _and_ I did your chemistry homework for two weeks. This has nothing to do with playing dress up. Promise.”

“Alright,” Marceline nodded, drawing out the last syllable in tentativeness as she side eyed her friend. “What is it this time then? Want me to do the laundry or make the beds every day instead?”

“As much as I want you to do that, no.” Bonnibel laughed. Marceline half expected the next thing to come out of her mouth to be along the lines of ‘go to the book store and pick up some heavy textbooks for me’. “I was sort of telling Brooke and a few girls from my chemistry lectures that I was in a relationship to get out of their dumb blind date shtick. Will you be my faux girlfriend when they next come over for study group?”

Wait-- what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time i'm not even going to harp on about it; here's a link to my kofi if you want to support me: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP   
> To those of you who have been commenting every chapter and have left kudos/bookmarked this fic i want to say thank you thank you thank you!! Your support has been amazing and i love each and every one of you!!


	17. Part Time Lover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the trope is set into action and there's a *ahem* cliché party game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PTL is a good song by relient k (again, the only thing Relevant to the fic is the title not the actual song) and i highly recommend them as a band!! so good!

Brooke had a habit of being early. She’d been the first of their friends to wish Bonnibel a happy birthday, she was always the first to show up for Bonnibel’s chemistry study group, and she was already knocking at the door when Marceline was waking up, blinking away the sleep as she glanced over at Bonnibel on the bed across from her, naturally engrossed in a book.

“Is it pretend we’re dating day?” She sniffled. “Should I jump out the window and run away?”

Bonnibel’s laugh first thing in the morning was music to Marceline’s ears. “Yes and no. Don’t worry about it too much, the most we’re gonna do is hold hands which we’ve been doing in secret the past few months.” Bonnibel said. Another few knocks at the door had her standing from the bed and placing her book down on the desk. “Come in Brooke!”

The internalised groan Marceline’s brain gave out when Brooke swung open the door to reveal three other girls behind her was difficult to keep on the inside. An eye roll seemed fair play though. Four straight girls were expecting Marceline to be dating Bonnibel, four straight girls were expecting them to be whatever straight girls thought about lesbian relationships. Her throat suddenly felt very tight.

“Hello, Bennett.” One of the girls greeted, the one with purple hair coming just past her chin and a dress that was far too tight for a Saturday morning. Her grey eyes turned to Marceline and she gasped loudly. “Is this your legs for days roomie turned girlfriend?”

 _ _Legs for what?__ Marceline found herself blinking again, eyes still trained on a now shuffling Bonnibel. “Yes, Ellen. This is she.” She sighed. “Marceline this is Ellen, Cait, Fiona and you already know Brooke. Girls, meet Marceline.”

“Yo,” Marceline greeted with a slanted smile when the girls (sans Brooke) just stood there ogling at her. She turned back to Bonnibel, then, very intent into getting to the bottom of whatever Bonnibel had been telling her friends. “You like my legs?”

“You’re fifty percent leg. I can’t skip out on those when making fun of you.” Bonnibel teased, pushing her laptop off of her knee and standing from her bed. The wink that Bonnibel sent her as she crossed over to the girls sent Marceline’s diaphragm plunging into her stomach.

“Were you two dating when I first came over?” Brooke whispered to Bonnibel when they sat down on the couch, taking out their chemistry work and textbooks. “Is that why she was glaring at me?”

Marceline went to open her mouth to tell her that she was definitely not jealous at all and Brooke was just annoyingly persistent when it came to dragging Bonnibel out of the dorm room to go on shopping sprees. Bonnibel beat her to it. Naturally. “Marceline was a little jealous, but it took me telling her you have a boyfriend for her to realise you weren’t out to take me away from her.” The teasing look Bonnibel gave her made an all too familiar warmth to spread about her chest and stomach. “Will you be joining us with going to the beach with everyone in an hour?”

“I guess,” Marceline mumbled, not really sure how that was going to go well considering four people thought they were together, three people thought they were friends and two delusional people __wanted__ them to be together. Bonnibel would probably work things out; for now there was getting an extra hour of sleep, Marceline couldn’t care less about the gossip that Ellen shared with the rest of the girls, nor did she really pay attention to the giggles followed by whispers. No. All Marceline cared about was getting some extra rest.

Still, though, the thoughts of __actually__ dating Bonnibel were enough to keep her awake longer than she’d have liked. Her brain faltered, and the comment from Bonnibel saying she was cute in a hushed voice was probably just a sleep induced illusion. Hopefully.

* * *

 

Sand wasn’t her favourite thing in the world. That would be Bonnibel’s freckles. Being gawked at by her friends because Bonnibel, despite being a genius, hadn’t the braincells to tell them that ‘hey, we’re pretending to date so I don’t get paired with some random girl I’m not interested in’. Marceline couldn’t quite understand why Bonnibel had forgotten to tell them; she’d sent a text to remind her, told her the day before, made sure she’d written it down on one of her sticky notes.

Keila and Lady were grinning devilishly from ear to ear when Brooke had asked them how long Bonnibel had been keeping Marceline a secret. They’d simply said something about a few months before going back to staring at the two girls as if they were candy or something else equally as rewarding. Marceline made it her mission to stay as far away from them both as possible. She knew they’d start asking questions, maybe say something along the lines of ‘Marceline finally admitted she likes you’ and Bonnibel would probably stop talking to her because having your best friend fall in love with you wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

“You okay, Abadeer?” Jake had appeared by her shoulder, small smile carefully masked by faux concern. “You haven’t complained yet. What’s up with that?”

Marceline snorted. “I’m thinking,” She grumbled. The others were already putting blankets down on the beach and Finn was already chatting up Brooke as if his life depended on it. “You guys know that… me and Bonnie aren’t-,” She sucked in a breath, shutting her eyes against the sun as she looked up from their friends to stare at Jake. “You know, right?”

“We know,” Jake nodded around a smile. “You’re too chicken to tell her you like her, anyway.”

Marceline’s jaw fell open only slightly but it was enough to make Jake guffaw at the sight. “What- I don’t like her.” She spluttered. “You’re crazy.”

“If I’m crazy just for saying that you’re insane for having a crush on her.” He replied. Then Lady was approaching them from the blankets. “Oh, here comes the girl of the hour. Thanks for inviting us to the beach in __March__.” He shivered for emphasis and Lady gave him a kiss for his efforts.

“Hush hush, it’s a nice day and your brother is thinking about going in the water.”

“He’s gonna freeze to death,” Marceline muttered, glancing over at Finn. The blonde was laughing at something Phoebe had said, and Keila was patting his shoulder in her own mirth. “It’s supposed to rain later.”

“Later,” Lady hummed. She wrapped an arm around Jake’s midsection and gave her boyfriend a light squeeze. “It’s midday and the forecast said it’d start raining around evening. Let us enjoy a beach day with you and your temporary girlfriend.”

Marceline pouted. “She roped me into this.”

Lady didn’t seem too convinced as she glanced up at her, an eyebrow arched. “I’m taking that as gentle coercion,” She said, grinning when Marceline just remained silent. “Haha! I’m right. What? Did she promise you a smooch at the end of the night?”

Warmth flooded Marceline’s entire being at the very (true) notion of her being easily swayed by the promise of a kiss from Bonnibel. She opened her mouth to reply, only to decide against it and click her teeth together.

“Are you three going to be spending all day over there?” Bonnibel chirped from her cross legged position on one of the now many colourful blankets spread over their space. “We have drinks and snacks for those of you that decide to come over here.” She added in a sing song-y voice. Marceline’s heart continued rapping against her chest at a hundred miles a minute.

They all sat around in a circle, the box of goodies sitting in the middle of their not so perfect ring. Marceline had naturally been squished between Bonnibel and Brooke, with Lady and Jake sitting across from them and the others scattered about in a random sequence. Ellen had found a way to sit between Finn and Jake though.

“So,” Fiona started in a soft tone, glancing over at Bonnibel with a smile. “When did you two even start dating? I could’ve put money on you being some sort of runaway nun.”

With all eyes on her, Bonnibel could only smile and look to Marceline with those dimpled cheeks. “Since Christmas?” All Marceline could supply was a nod. “Christmas. Three months.”

“All that time?” Keila asked, very clearly in on the whole scheme if Lady’s elbow in her side was anything to go by. Marceline shot daggers at her when her smile turned devious. “You were together for Bonnibel’s birthday? So __that’s__ why you wanted everything to be perfect.”

Marceline tried her very best not to glare too hard at her friend, really she did, but what with her situation and all she found it increasingly harder by the second. “Sure.” She ground out. “It’s not because I haven’t seen her in a while and wanted to throw her a nice party.”

The conversation was left after that as different topics were brought up between groups. Marceline was all too aware of the stares from Bonnibel’s chemistry girls. Ellen, Cait and Fiona had shifted now to Marceline’s left to sit with Brooke. Each of them had looked up at her and Bonnibel least twice in the past two minutes and it was getting increasingly difficult not to glare at them and threaten to throw them in the ocean.

As casually and without suspicion as she could she leaned over to whisper in Bonnibel’s ear. “Your second lot of friends keep staring at us and so help me god if they don’t stop I’ll add them to the Merten’s brothers soup.”

Bonnibel smiled. “Here,” She hummed as she snaked an arm around Marceline’s waist. Her freckles were bolder in the sunlight. “They’re probably expecting us to be all lovey dovey. Put your arm around me.”

Marceline did as she told, probably taking far too much enjoyment out of letting her fingers ghost the freckles on Bonnibel’s shoulders. It felt even better when Bonnibel leaned into her side. Even better still when she glanced over at the four girls and saw that they were all in a state of shock.

They remained wrapped up in each other for the rest of their beach day.

* * *

 

“You’re literally not even correct at all.”

“Shut up, I’m always right.”

“Twelve year old Bonnibel would like to disagree with you.”

They were walking across the campus hand in hand (Bonnibel had suggested that they do that in case Ellen accuse them of lying about their definitely not fake relationship) with their friends in tow; Lady had suggested that they all play never have I ever for the last few hours before it started raining. Marceline had objected at first, but then Bonnibel told her that they could probably just sit and hold hands and pretend that they were just watching some cliché teen movie.

Marceline pouted at Bonnibel. “Twelve year old you can bite my ass.”

“You’re a jerk.” Bonnibel retorted with a huff, narrowing her eyes slightly when Marceline grinned.

“I’m _your_ jerk.” She sang happily. She levelled her finger with Bonnibel’s shoulder and prodded her gently. “Anyway, I most definitely am correct.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lady cut in as they stopped outside their door. “Stop bickering like an old married couple for once.”

Marceline just simply jabbed the key into the hole. It was stupid how warm she’d gotten just from the simple analogy. Bonnibel thanked her quietly and let go of her hand when Marceline pushed the door open for her. The decline in temperature of the room was nice against Marceline’s now hot skin from being out in the sunlight for more than two hours. “Are we playing with fingers or has someone got a secret alcohol stash they’re not telling me about?”

“Usually the latter,” Ellen said almost regretfully, collapsing down on the sofa while Marceline and Bonnibel took refuge on her bed. Lady, Jake and Keila all sat patiently on Bonnibel’s, leaving Finn and the other girls to spread themselves out on the remains space on the sofa and floor. “I’ll have to invite you around to my place so we can have a party one day.”

Jake whistled. “What have we done to owe the pleasure, Ellen?”

The purple haired girl shot him a glance. “Nothing yet. I just want to get you guys drunk.”

“You guys should just avoid Ellen and alcohol at all times,” Cait said. Ellen turned her disapproving stare towards the girl to her side. “What? You get very touchy feely when you’re drunk.”

Marceline crumpled her face up at the thought. If Bonnibel from the last party was anything to go by then so was she and Marceline had always disliked drunk folk coming anywhere near her with their hands and their mouths.

“She’s also an emotional drunk,” Fiona started softly, grinning when Ellen threw one of the cushions at her across the room. “Hey! It’s true. She’ll find anything to cry about past a certain point.”

“Can we play the party game now? I didn’t come here to get attacked.”

Lady shrugged a shoulder. “Go ahead. You start and we’ll go anticlockwise?”

“Sounds doable.” Ellen nodded after a minute of thought. “Five fingers?” The room nodded in unison in an almost comical way, much to Marceline’s amusement. “Okay, never have I ever broken a bone.”

Finn, Phoebe and Marceline each lost a finger. At the curious looks from their friends it seemed as if they were going to have to give explanations for each of their answers. Which was dangerous, considering that Keila and Lady were next to each other giggling and whispering about god knows what.

“I fell out of a tree when I was a kid,” Finn explained, wriggling his left hand around. “Broke my wrist and two fingers. Also I broke my shoulder trying out for rugby a few years ago.”

“Broke my nose after someone opened a door in my face.” Phoebe wrinkled said appendage on her face. “I set it myself though which hurt way more than the break itself.” Marceline could see the grimace on Bonnibel’s face out of the corner of her eye. “What about you, Abadeer?”

“Oh, broke my ankle climbing out of a two storey window and I broke a couple ribs and my arm on the way down some stairs.” She muttered, mentally counting the amount of accidents she’d been in. “Broke my hand in the car door two years ago too actually.” And she pointed at the now fading scar on her palm. “That sucked.”

Lady began spluttering from her seat on Bonnibel’s bed. “What do you mean you climbed out of a two storey window? Context, please.”

“Alright,” Marceline chuckled, crossing her legs to get more comfort. Usually she’d be watching a movie with Bonnibel’s arms around her by now. “Bonnie and I had a load of sleepovers when we were kids, as some of you know, and I’d sometimes climb in through her window if her parents were asleep. Obviously I wouldn’t tell my dad because he’d throw a tantrum and put metal bars on all the windows but I’d have to wake up extra early to leave through her window and get back to my room in time. To this day my father doesn’t have a clue that I left nearly every night to go hang out with my lesbian best friend.

“Anyway so this one night I’d already twisted my ankle getting to Bonnibel’s house and we were being complete idiots and baking- what were even baking? I think it was a batch of angel cakes but we baked so much I can’t even remember. And we were baking until like four am on a weekend and just as we were finishing them off my alarm went off and I rushed all the way upstairs because Bonnibel’s tiny balcony was the only escape considering Bonnie’s parents always locked all the windows and doors.

“So I climbed out the window absolutely exhausted with a twisted ankle and like halfway down the trellis when my ankle completely gave out and I found myself just like falling half a storey to the ground? Bonnie’s mum said I was lucky and we told my dad that I’d gone out and done something dumb which ended up with me being grounded but still allowed to be around Bonnibel.” Marceline grinned. “It was the wildest thing that’s possibly ever happened to me to be honest. Bonnibel almost cried.”

“Hey!” Bonnibel shoved her harshly, cheeks staining a light shade of pink. “In my defence I had always warned you about it and I felt like it was my fault for not finding a safer way for you to sneak your way into my house.”

“Psh,” Marceline scoffed. An arm around Bonnibel’s shoulders seemed friendly enough to their friends. “I was a little gremlin child, I deserved it. Showed me right for not being careful. Who’s up next?”

“Me,” Cait called. “Never have I ever done something illegal.”

That was pretty harmless. Marceline put a finger down and just muttered out ‘stole some chapstick’ when everyone’s eyes turned to her. Fiona and Brooke both managed to get Lady and Jake down by one respectively, and Finn targeted his brother with an oddly specific question about washing his whites with a blue sock to which he got a pillow thrown at his head. Marceline was going to have to clean the room of throwables when the group eventually took their leave.

Marceline was alerted that it was her turn to ask a question after Bonnibel dug her elbow in her ribs in an oddly gentle way. “Never have I ever cheated at a game of bowling.” She said around a smug smile, watching as Bonnibel got rid of a finger with a scowl.

“Never have I ever been proficient in like twenty different string instruments.” Bonnibel shot back, resulting Marceline down to two fingers and a pout. She was thankful that no one asked her to list off all the instruments she could play.

Jake’s eyes rolled up in thought when the room looked over to him, rolling his lip under as he hummed and finally came up with a question. “Never have I ever set fire to pasta.” His eyes were on Finn as he said it, but Phoebe and Bonnibel both put a finger down too much to the rooms shared amusement. “Seriously? I thought Finn was the only incompetent cook here.”

“Hey-!”

“Bonnie can’t cook to save her life. She needs adult supervision or else you can say goodbye to your fancy kitchenettes.” Marceline laughed, ignoring Bonnibel’s complaints. “She’s a hazard in the kitchen and a cheater in the lanes.”

“I regret putting a finger down for that,” Bonnibel huffed. “It’s playing to my advantages.”

“If I were to play guitar against someone who had only been playing it for a week would that be me playing to my advantages or me cheating?” Marceline retorted, prodding Bonnibel’s nose gently with a smirk.

Lady scoffed at them and rolled her eyes when Bonnibel took Marceline’s distraction to shove her roughly. “You guys really do act like a married couple, you know that right?”

“I should hope so,” Brooke cut in, eyeing the three girls at the other end of the room. “Four months is actually kinda long when you’re in a new relationship.”

“I guess,” Lady smirked. “Never have I ever kissed someone in this room.” She took the blow with Jake just to watch Marceline and Bonnibel squirm. It was confirmed when she arched a brow and leaned forward to rest her head on the palm of her hand almost tauntingly.

They could either tell the complete truth or lie and risk Bonnibel getting paired up with some random girl that Ellen would more than likely pick out for her. Which didn’t sound like the worst thing ever, but Marceline felt her skin itch at the thought of Bonnibel bringing a girl over to flirt and-

No. There would be absolutely no possessiveness over Bonnibel in a romantic way. They weren’t together. Marceline had no right.

They both put a finger down, much to the obvious surprise of Finn and Co. Ellen, Brooke, Fiona and Cait didn’t seem at all phased.

But of course Lady had a strategic question on the tip of her tongue. “When was your first kiss?”

Marceline opened her mouth to tell her that it was really none of anyone’s business, but found that Bonnibel was talking before she could even process the question.

“We were kids. I was questioning my sexuality and Marceline had never actually kissed a girl before so… I asked her to kiss me.” She explained unabashedly, pink tinge to her cheeks that gave her inner embarrassment away. “It was awkward. That’s all your getting.”

After that the questions were all incredibly harmless and Marceline managed to keep her remaining few fingers up until Lady and Ellen went out on the same round. The rain hadn’t started at all, but their friends still left before they got caught in it on their way across the campus.

So pretending to date Bonnibel wasn’t the most awkward thing that had ever happened to Marceline. It was probably going to be long con, though, considering how often Bonnibel had the chemistry group over for study time or just to hang out.

Marceline wasn’t sure how much longer she could take being Bonnibel’s fake girlfriend. Nor did she know how she was going to survive the rest of college with the fire in her stomach that grew with each passing glance at the other girl.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Support me via KoFi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP !!   
> Don't forget to comment, leave kudos if you haven't already, and bookmark this fic!


	18. Tell Me I'm A Wreck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the one where marceline knows she's in deep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: allusions to v*miting (it's at the very end) (sorry Jenna!)

“This is fucking dumb,” Marceline grumbled out in a huff. “In fact, this is the dumbest thing I’ve done this month and that’s saying something.” The wind picked up, sending a shiver down her spine. Her hair situation was getting a bit out of hand, too, whipping at her cheeks and obscuring most of her face from view. “Tell me why I’ve been roped into standing here when I could be asleep.”

“Because,” Jake turned to her with a grin that wasn’t quite as wide as his brothers. “If you stayed in your room snuggling with Bonnie the dean would’ve been out for your head.” Oh. Fair. Marceline kept her pout on her face.

Fire drills were dumb. No, fire drills on a cold day were dumb. “Well,” she said. “At least the dorm isn’t actually on fire.” That was a huge plus. No dorm meant having to go __home__ to stay with her dad. No dorm meant Bonnie would go back to living too damn far away. No dorm meant no Bonnie and that just wouldn’t do. She’d also kind of been in the middle of making herself an omelette in a mug. So there was the fact that there were the ingredients for a perfectly quick and simple snack in the student kitchens and someone would probably steal everything.

“At least the dorm isn’t actually on fire.” Jake agreed with a bob of his head. “Oh, hey, did Lady tell you Ellen is throwing a party tonight?” Marceline sourly twisted her mouth in response, eyes still trained on the group of teachers at the front of the many rows of cold teenagers. He, luckily, saw that as a valid answer. “There’s promise of alcohol and boy talk.” he said drolly. “Which is, as you know, our favourite thing.”

Marceline could only snort. “Bonnie won’t be pleased. She thinks boys are shit.”

“And Ellen thinks boys are the shit.” Jake laughed. The dean said something that made the rest of them groan and Marceline could only suspect that it would mean they’d be staying outside a bit longer than necessary. “Will you be in attendance?”

“Probably not.” Marceline grouched. “I don’t love the idea of spending a night with Eleanor.” A night in with Bonnie away from the group seemed far more electable than a night around drunk teens. Then again, she was a little biased.

“Bonnie’s going surprisingly enough. Took very little persuasion from Brooke.” Jake elbowed her carefully. “How about it, Abadeer? You, Bonnibel, a little wine.”

“Yeah,” Marceline sighed. “Listen, whatever you think about me and Bonnibel isn’t remotely true. She’s my friend-,”

”I hope you know that all I heard from that was ‘yes Jake I would love to make my friends happy and pretend to be Bonnie’s girlfriend a little longer’.”

Marceline opened her mouth to call him something nasty but the group of students had all slowly began making their way back inside, Jake among them. She hated how damn right he was all the time.

* * *

 

Marceline slunk into the coffee shop. The weather outside was still miserable and it reflected perfectly back in her mood. A coffee was seemingly the only thing that could cheer her up after finding what she already knew; her snack had been pilfered, and Bonnibel had gone to work anyway, leaving Marceline to sit on her bed and sulk.

There were only a few people who had found refuge in the little coffee place, evident by the fact that there was only one person stood in line when Marceline sidled up behind him. He got his coffee to go and shot her a strange look when he turned around to leave.

Bonnibel was busying herself with the cash register when Marceline stuck her index finger out to prod at her collarbone. “Oh!” She gasped, rounded reading glasses threatening to fall from her nose. “Hey, Marceline.”

She had to fight away the thoughts of how cute her friend looked with her hair in disarray and how damn nice it would be to lean over the counter and kiss her. Those thoughts were unhealthy and so, __so__ weirdly nice to have playing in the back of her mind. “Uh,” Marceline blinked. “Coffee.”

Bonnibel shot her another dimpled smile and Marceline had to mentally kick herself for even __considering__ kissing Bonnibel. “I’ve been thinking about giving you that discount, you know.” She started, turning around to prepare Marceline’s drink. “It makes sense considering we’ve been engaged for so long.”

“I can sense a but incoming,” Marceline muttered, preparing her wallet.

“ _ _But…__  you get all pouty when I charge you full price.” Bonnibel sang. Marceline opened her mouth to ask how that was such a good thing, but Bonnibel beat her to it with a wink. “It’s pretty cute.”

Marceline spluttered. “What? You’re making me go bankrupt because… because-,” She cut herself off when she realised she didn’t actually fully understand Bonnibel’s reasoning, at least not until she turned around with her coffee and that smirk on her face.

“Because it’s cute how you start whining when I don’t give you what I want.” And the coffee was offered between them. Marceline’s jaw slacked open and she was wholly aware of the blush that took reign over her entire body. Yeah, those thoughts were definitely unhealthy. “Five ninety, but if you pout I __might__ consider dropping the price down.”

That was definitely illegal. Not the very obvious scam, she already knew that __technically__ Bonnibel could refuse a discount to someone. It was that god damn smirk that was definitely not allowed, no sir. “Uh,” She thrust the wallet out between them, too shocked and confused to even __think__  about pouting. Her thoughts were too occupied with wondering if Bonnibel had gotten any better at kissing in the years they’d been apart, anyway. “I just want my coffee.”

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. “Sure. Here you go, Abadeer. It’s strawberry.”

“Really?” Marceline’s eyes went wide. She took a poorly thought out sip. “ _ _Shit-__ that’s-,”

“It’s also hot. Y’know, considering you just sat there watching me make it not a minute ago.” Bonnibel tutted, but took Marceline’s money and put it in the cash register. “See you at home?”

Marceline nodded simply and turned on her heel to sit at a booth. Almost as soon as she made contact with the seat she whipped her phone out from her pocket and sent a text to her only trusted confidant.

 ** **Marceline (12:03PM):**** I think Bonnie just flirted with me

 ** **Marceline (12:05PM):**** Help.

She blew on her coffee as she waited for a reply, peering over her shoulder at the pink haired girl behind the counter. Bonnibel had always been unfairly cute, even when they were eleven and she was too smart for Marceline to even understand her. Little eleven year old Marceline had been to focussed on Bonnibel’s freckles and long red hair. She was a little sad when she’d seen she had cut it, but over the months they’d been living together her shoulder length hair had turned into a past shoulder affair.

 ** **Finn (12:10PM):**** Isn’t that a good thing?

Marceline snorted. Of course Finn wouldn’t understand the sheer panic of having a crush flirt with you. Still, telling Finn about it was better than telling Keila or Phoebe. They’d just report back to the ever scheming Lady and have Marceline confess her feelings. Finn was oblivious. It was refreshing.

 ** **Marceline (12:12PM):**** NO

 ** **Marceline (12:13PM):**** … yes

 ** **Marceline (12:13PM):**** she’s absolutely awful I hate her she’s the worst

 ** **Finn (12:15PM): I**** s that Marceline lingo for ‘she’s absolutely lovely and I love her she’s the best’? Or am I not fluent enough?

 ** **Marceline (12:16PM):**** Congratulations you’re bilingual.

 ** **Finn (12:16PM):**** Awesome, you should do something about your crush though. That’s not healthy.

Marceline scoffed.

 ** **Marceline (12:17PM):**** Which part? The bit where we’re living together as forced roommates or the childhood friends who share a bed part?

 ** **Finn (12:18PM):**** Yikes.

That was enough of confiding in Finn for the day, Marceline decided. She took a sip of her coffee and let out a pleasantly surprised sound when she realised that there was a faint strawberry flavour that lingered in her mouth.

Addressing her feelings for her best friend could come later. For now there was strangely amazing coffee and a shit ton of mental preparation for a party.

* * *

 

No amount of mental preparation could’ve prepared Marceline for an overly clingy Ellen greeting her with a tight hug at the door of her dorm. Nor could anything really prepare her for a slightly tipsy Bonnibel slinging her arm around her shoulders and leading her over to the only available seat on the couch.  

“Hey, Mertens.” She mumbled in greeting, eyeing Finn more so than Jake. Lady was here too, how nice. Bonnibel, surprisingly strong for her stature, turned Marceline around and pushed her onto the couch. When Bonnibel made to sit down, Marceline went to protest only for the words to die in her throat when Bonnibel landed on the arm of the sofa and not her lap. Good.

“You’re going to have fun this time,” Bonnibel huffed, leaning over so she could hand her a beer from the counter beside them. “Drink, get drunk, party. Be a college student.”

College student. Marceline could maybe do that if she wasn’t so focussed on Bonnibel’s legs. Of course she’d put on a skirt. Of course Marceline noticed. And of course Lady was looking at her like __that__. A mouthful of beer washed away unspoken words.

For the next hour or so her friends frequently abandoned the couch in favour of dancing or drinking or getting roped into Ellen’s party games. Marceline stayed in her seat, gradually becoming more than happy when she noticed Bonnibel had been replacing her empty bottles with more beer.

“You’re a real bore,” Jake huffed when he sat down beside her for the first time that night. Lady and Finn had been taking turns to talk her ear off, so it was nice that someone else had noticed she was sat alone. “Come join in, spin the bottle isn’t that bad.”

Marceline snorted. “That’s because you keep kissing your girlfriend and it gives Finn a chance to make out with every other girl. I’ll end up with Ellen or someone equally as terrifying.”

“Like Bonnibel?”

It was teasing, Marceline knew that, but the alcohol in her system told her that it was a completely safe question to answer. “Like Bonnibel.” And then she crumbled her face up. “Or you.”

Jake’s face mirrored hers. “No spin the bottle for you. Gotcha.” He stood up once more, legs wobbling under his drunken state as he walked over to Lady. His seat was immediately filled by Bonnibel.

Oh.

“Come hangout with us,” She whined. “You don’t have to kiss anyone if you don’t want to.” The words ‘I want to’ almost slipped out of Marceline’s mouth, but Bonnibel had put a hand on her knee and she was struggling to even think of words that weren’t ‘shit’. “Please? For __me__?” Bonnibel slung an arm around Marceline’s shoulders, putting her hand at the top of her neck so she was forced to face her and suddenly there wasn’t much space between them.

“Fine,” Marceline grumbled. “But I’m not playing. I’ll just sit and complain and-,” Bonnibel cut her off with a messy kiss to her jaw.

“Thank you,” Bonnibel slurred against her skin, blowing hot air against Marceline’s neck. Then she pulled away and was giggling. “C’mon, fun sponge.”

Marceline pouted as she was dragged off of the couch by her arm. She was seated neatly between Phoebe and Finn, and Bonnibel nestled herself between her legs. It worried Marceline how completely okay she was with the thought of having her sit on her knee. Maybe she was more drunk than she realised.

“Marceline isn’t playing,” Bonnibel declared, earning an ‘oh, boo’ from Brooke and the others. “She will most definitely be pressured into the next game, though. Truth or shot is excellent.”

Marceline huffed and endured the searing pain of having to witness Bonnibel kiss people who weren’t her. Sure, they were closed mouth and everyone that wasn’t in a couple acted as if cooties were most definitely a thing and not some middle school myth, but Marceline had to settle with a kiss on the cheek every fifteen minutes instead of the two percent chance of spinning a beer bottle and having it land on Bonnibel.

“I’m bored of landing on Finn,” Ellen whined when the dreaded bottle settled itself on the blonde. “There are five guys here and I’ve kissed enough of them to know they’re not up to par.”

“Ouch, I’m wounded Ellen.” Jake shot back with a grin. “Truth or shot, then? Or are we just going to let Marceline continue to brood over there?”

Ellen’s gaze landed devilishly on Marceline, then. “I think that’s an excellent plan, dear Jacob. Someone go fetch the tray of shots from the kitchen.” Jake stood, grumbling about the nickname, and shuffled off into the kitchen. Ellen’s eyes were still on Marceline when she addressed Bonnibel. “You promise your girlfriend will play?”

“Of course she will, she’ll do anything for me, right Marcy?” And that damn pout was on her face as she leaned into Marceline’s chest. Lady snorted from where she was knelt.

Marceline swallowed. “Sure. You don’t wanna sit out or anything, though? You’re pretty drunk already.”

Bonnibel shook her head no and Jake returned with the tray of shots. “I’m not even that drunk, Marcy. I’m tipsy at most.” Marceline knew that she was definitely not ‘tipsy at most’, but kept her mouth shut when Lady past her a shot straight off the bat.

Lady sent her a smirk. “You might as well drink that straight away, yeah?” Marceline held her breath and shook her head, taking her chances with a drunk Bonnibel who wouldn’t remember anything away. “Are you a virgin or just saving yourself for Bonnibel on your wedding night?” Finn and Jake were reduced to laughter, and Phoebe was trying her hardest not to laugh too hard next to her.

“Not a virgin, thanks,” Marceline answered as flatly as possibly. “I’m offended you’d even think that.”

Lady narrowed her eyes and flicked her gaze to Bonnibel. “What about you, Bonnie? Has anybody deflowered you?”

Marceline decided she hated drunk Lady more than when she was sober. That intelligent and devious mindset of hers was amplified tenfold by the alcohol. “Pass her the shot, Abadeer.”

“She doesn’t need to,” Bonnibel huffed. “Yes, technically I’m a virgin.”

“Technically? How do you mean?” Brooke chirped up from her gaggle of friends at the other side of the circle.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. “As in, I did and wasn’t done.”

Lady’s eyes widened and Marceline went to snort at Bonnibel’s phrasing, but there was an immediate bout of laughter from Finn and Jake once more. “Didn’t peg you as a bottom.”

The play on words made Marceline scoff, rolling her eyes at Lady. “I’m not even responding to that. Also, you’re playing the game wrong. Technically it was my turn to ask someone a question.”

Lady went to stick her tongue out, but her face suddenly paled and Marceline screwed her eyes shut tight. There was a commotion and a collective ‘ew’ from the rest of the group.

“Party is over folks; Lady owes me a new rug.” Ellen said as flatly as she could muster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> support me via kofi! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	19. If It Means A Lot To You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the one where i hurt one of them and felt bad about it afterwards

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand just like that we're close to our two month anniversary!! I love all of you awesome losers, truly I do. This chapter was going to be longer (double the word count) but I decided I'd leave it where I've left it and start writing up my notes for chapter 20 while I'm ahead. The end is so close, I can taste it! It tastes like blueberry muffins and a red velvet cake. Scrumptious.

Marceline decides she hates the sun. Her shirt was clinging to her back in an uncomfortable manner, sticking to her shoulder blades and making Marceline feel gross. The downside of her friends claiming the round table outside of their dorms meant that the sun was on them seventy percent of the time and Marceline was getting sick of it.

It had been hot all week. Marceline had first noticed the change in weather due to Bonnibel politely telling her to get the fuck out of her bed because it was too warm for even the duvet around her, never mind a whole clingy human. The sun meant Marceline slept alone and listened to Bonnibel’s soft breaths and midnight murmurings of science and bits of broken german loosely thrown in to the mix.

It was making her grouchier than usual, and Marceline usually never admitted to being more than waspish. Maybe slightly intolerable if she was particularly mad at something. “I’m not a fan of feeling like I’m about to melt all day.” She grumbled out as her and Bonnibel walked over to the usual table. Finn and Jake had already sprawled their belongings out on the table, and for some reason Jake had deemed it perfectly acceptable to have his arm around Lady. The thought of being close to anybody made Marceline want to dunk her head in an ice bath.

“You’re not even trying to hide it any more, eh Abadeer?” Phoebe gestured to Marceline’s shorts. “Didn’t know you owned a pair of those.”

Marceline pursed her lips. “I’m _hot_.”

“I’ll say,” Lady snickered. “You have great legs and _this_ is what makes you show them off? Maybe the sun needed to glare at us today.”

Marceline spluttered and raised a finger to jab in Lady’s direction. “Maybe the sun can fuck off. The cold is much more tolerable. Grab some blankets, sit by a fire, kumbaya.”

“Kumbaya.” Finn agreed, shifting his bag off of the chair beside him so that Bonnibel could sit down. Marceline remained stood, frowning at the table with her arms crossed over her chest. “You can’t do much with the heat. There are only so many clothes you can take off before it gets awkward.”

“Or sexy,” Jake pointed out, earning a slap from his girlfriend. Marceline rolled her eyes. “At least we’re getting sun though, right? If it rained one more time I would’ve sworn that Marceline could control the weather with her feelings.”

“Har har,” Marceline muttered dryly. “If I could control the weather I think you’d know about, Jake.” The finger went to him and Jake went to reply, only Lady muttered something that Marceline couldn’t quite hear due to the distance between them and the table devolved into giggles and laughter. Bonnibel shot her a look. “You’re a bitch.” She turned her finger back to Lady. “What did she say, Finn?”

“Uh,” Finn sat up straight, wide eyes darting between Lady and Marceline. Marceline’s glare won Lady’s amused smile. “She said the weather’d be nice when you and Bonnie… go to bed.”

Marceline shot him a flat look. “It wasn’t quite like that though, was it?” Finn swallowed and shook his head. “You’re immature, Ryder.”

Lady stuck her tongue out and leaned into her boyfriend. “You’re not denying it.” She teased. “Hey, Bennett-,”

“Leave me out of it, Lady.” Bonnibel cut her off drolly, nose already stuck in a book. “ _I_ can’t control the weather.”

“Hey,” Marceline whined, finally sitting down to pout at Bonnibel. Marceline couldn’t be mad if Bonnibel was teasing her, not really. “You’re supposed to be on my side here.”

Bonnibel sighed. “You do have nice legs, Marceline.” She repeated Lady’s earlier comment. “And I agree that there are more ways to warm yourself up in public than there are to cool yourself off. However, I’m not rising up to Lady’s teasing for your sake.”

Lady arched a brow. “For Marceline’s sake? What, you think you’re immune to the teasing?”

“Well she’s much more sensitive about it than I am,” Bonnibel began, dog-earing the page and setting it down on the table in front of her. “I assume if I said something along the lines of ‘yes the weather would be nice if we were to have sex because Marceline would be enjoying herself’, Marceline might go a shade of red… like that.” She nodded to Marceline’s now flush face. “However, if I were to deny that and jump on the defensive it would only really get worse from there as you all have active imaginations.”

Marceline spluttered. “The weather would _not_ -, you’re all insane I don’t even-,”

“Sex is enjoyable, Abadeer.” Bonnibel muttered, picking her book back up. “If you could control the weather and had sex I’m assuming that it’d be a little sunny.”

Marceline sharply inhaled and let out her breath slowly through her nose. “It’d be _cold_.” She argued. “I like the cold.”

Lady rolled her eyes. “You two really are something, you know that?”

Marceline threw one of Jake’s stray pencils at her.

* * *

 

 ** **Lady (1:09PM):**** hey lesbian

 ** **Lady (1:09PM):**** your girlfriend wants u home asap

 ** **Lady (1:10PM):****  have fun ;) use protection

Marceline scowled at her phone screen a little longer than necessary. She’d only just got back to their dorms from her jam session with Keila and the guys, and Lady was already proving she had the mindset of a twelve year old boy. She gladly ignored all three messages and tucked her phone into her back pocket, groaning when it pinged again.

 ** **Finn (1:11PM):**** Will you help me get together my music theory notes tomorrow? I’m struggling with most of it and you’re getting A’s somehow.

 ** **Marceline (1:11PM):**** Somehow??? I’m offended. If you come over with the study group tomorrow I’ll help you out then.  

 ** **Finn (1:13PM):**** Noted. Thanks Marceline!

 ** **Lady (1:13PM):**** don’t ignore me, Abadeer.

The phone was put on silent as Marceline unlocked the door to her dorm and stepped inside to the cool interior. Bonnibel was working feverishly at their desk, her phone lit up beside her that were likely messages from Lady telling her similar things.

“Hey brainlord,” Marceline mumbled, sitting down on the edge of her bed. “Lady said you needed me? What’s up?” Bonnibel’s hand stilled.

Marceline only really saw the tear stains on her friends cheeks when it was too late; Bonnibel had already thrown her arms around Marceline’s mid section and her face found refuge in the crook of her neck. For a good thirty seconds Marceline sat there stunned, arms rigid by her side and heart _hammering_ against her ribcage. Then she half melted half wrapped herself protectively around her friend.

“Hey,” She cooed softly when Bonnibel’s shaking shoulders had calmed along with her breathing. “Hey, tell me what’s wrong, help me understand. Hugs are nice and all but I need to know what’s going on.”

Bonnibel sniffled against her shoulder. “My brother-,” She tried to begin, only for her to be taken over by sobs once more. Marceline waited, hand rubbing soothing cirlcles against Bonnie’s back, until she could speak once more. “My brother went missing last night,” She mumbled, voice cracking and full of heartbreak. “I don’t- he doesn’t _go_ missing. You know Rob, he’s- he’s a stay at home kinda guy and- and people don’t _just_ go missing,” There was a choked sob, almost as if Bonnibel was willing herself not to cry, and then all this emotion came out in one word. “ _Marceline _.__ ”

It was as if she was twelve again and Bonnibel had fallen and scraped her knees; Marceline collected Bonnibel up in her arms, shuffled them backwards on the bed, let Bonnibel get comfortable on her lap and cling onto her shirt as if her life depended on it. Then again, everything that had happened recently reminded her of when they were just tiny and didn’t know any better. Didn’t know that sitting on each other’s knees was anything but friendly, didn’t understand that kissing your best friend was _weird_ or that not liking boys as much as you liked the little red headed nerd you hung out with every day wasn’t normal. Marceline pressed a kiss to Bonnibel’s forehead.

“Hey,” She repeated, even softer than before. “Your whole family are the smartest people I’ve ever met. Your mum is incredibly good at painting, I don’t even know how she can draw a perfect circle, never mind how she can draw and paint works of art. And your dad? He’s an amazing writer. And you’re an amazing scientist, Bon. Your brother is equally as smart, okay? I know… it’s terrifying. It’s terrifying to wonder what’s going on right now on his end of this whole narrative but you have to remember that you both took self defence lessons for a whole decade. He did karate for god knows how long, too. He’s nothing but capable.” And she knew deep down that her words weren’t full of weight like she wanted them to be, knew that Bonnibel’s big sciencey brain was going through every single possibility and then some. So she pressed another kiss to Bonnibel’s cheek, hoping that somehow it would get across the words ‘he’s okay’ and make them mean something.

“I always hear about this stuff,” Bonnibel whispered hoarsely into Marceline’s shirt, hands still balled into fists in the fabric. “And I always… I never thought ‘Oh, this could happen to me or someone I love at any minute’. Not once did I think that I was susceptible to all those bad things, not me, not my family, not my friends. Not you. I… my mum’s distraught. My dad doesn’t know what to do and I’m hundreds of miles away unable to do _anything_.”

“Take a week off,” Marceline mumbled. “I’m sure the college will understand that you need to be there for your family.”

“I-I _can’t_ , I can’t just abandon my studies this close to our mock exams, I can’t fail.” Bonnibel shook her head and the hands tightened impossibly more. “I can’t leave you again. That’d wreck me, Marcy.”

“Your brother needs to come home to his sister, Bon.”

“I’m not leaving you.” Bonnibel repeated, and Marceline knew better to argue with an upset Bonnibel. “I- He’s gonna be okay, right?”

“He’s related to you,” Marceline replied with a smile. “I dare say the world could end and the Bennett’s would be the last surviving out of sheer willpower and stubbornness alone.”

Bonnibel finally pulled away from Marceline’s now damp shoulder and gave a watery laugh. “And the weird bunker under our house.”

Marceline nodded. “And the weird bunker under your house.” She agreed with a smile. “Do you want to put on a nerdy scifi movie? I’ll allow interruptions of the mobile kind.”

“You’re a dork,” Bonnibel muttered around more laughter and the last of the tears to fall. Then, for a split second, Marceline was being kissed. “Please never change.”

Marceline didn’t really pay attention to the plot of the movie (most scifi films followed a similar introduction), especially with Bonnibel crying herself dry into her shoulder. And especially when Bonnibel fell asleep on her lap, lips ghosting Marceline’s throat.

Yeah, the sun was awful, but hearing Bonnibel’s heart breaking was downright painful. And it wasn’t even the first time it had happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where I take time to remind you all I have a kofi (It's £3 and would really help me out) and that comments, kudos and bookmarks are appreciated. None of this is mandatory as I've said before; you guys reading this makes me happy no matter what. I'm currently in a bad place mental health wise and seeing that this fic is so widely read and that you guys take time out of your day to read my writing?? Awesome, truly amazing.  
>  I do have a twitter that you can follow where I occasionally tweet about this fic (and others) and my username is abadeerly over there, DM me if you want to have a chat if nothing else. I often do a random Q&A over there via my curiouscat so if you have any questions that you want me answering then check that once in a while. There's also my tumblr (same username) which is semi active and not really that important, but I check that every two days if you prefer that form of social media.   
> I think that's all the self promo I'll be doing today. Most of it was because I've stopped answering reviews (there are so many) and prefer to use other messaging systems than this one. No offence at all to AO3's commenting system, but I don't want to clog up the comments on this fic with my answers. (I read every single one of them, though. I love you all!) Thank you!


	20. I Like (the idea of) You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which i try to forget about my own exams by writing about fictional ones. and pizza. maybe i'm hungry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no content warnings here, maybe don't read if you hate marceline being a lovesick fool? or if you like the new jurassic park films (which... if you do, you're a monster. the originals could slam dunk the new ones into oblivion).

Exams. Marceline dreaded each and every one of them. She could fly through both her music exams without a worry, sure, but the fear of messing up and getting anything but an A in them was enough to make her want to cry. Maths was a problem, too, as were History and Philosophy. Why’d she taken five courses was beyond her, but at least she hadn’t done a Bonnibel and done half of the courses available.

By the end of them Bonnibel and herself had put their combined efforts into well and truly making a mess in their room. The bass guitar that usually resided at Keila’s took up one of their beds, and the amount of sticky notes (colour coordinated, of course) that were stuck to the bathroom mirror, TV and other places sticky notes should definitely not go, were enough to make Lady frown. Bonnibel had dibs on the desk, as per usual, and Marceline had gotten enough noise complaints from playing her bass too late into the night that she’d earned them a lovely visit from the dean. What a pleasant fellow.

Marceline swung from the door frame with envelopes in hand, peering into the hovel of a room they’d created and puffed her cheeks put when she saw that Bonnibel _still_ hadn’t gotten showered like she promised. The girl had always been neglectful to her personal hygiene (and sleep schedule) when it came to overworking. “Hey,” She sang, dragging the vowel out just because she could. When she got no response, Marceline let go of the door frame and slouched forwards. “Results were mailed to us,” She waggled Bonnibel’s envelope about next to her face. “Though, they told me not to give them to people who smell like last weeks take out.”

That got a light snort from the other girl, who finally put her pen down and peered up at Marceline. It was evident she’d been crying, but Marceline decided not to pry and instead pull Bonnibel up from the chair and tug her towards the bathroom. “I showered a few days ago,” Bonnibel muttered, weakly attempting to push away from Marceline.

“You’re showering right now.” Marceline huffed. “Get in, I’ll bring your clothes in once I’ve cleaned up a little bit.”

Bonnibel narrowed her eye. “So you can perv on me? Fat chance.”

“Hey,” Marceline warned with a grin. “I’m only trying to help. Go shower.” She levelled a finger over Bonnibel’s shoulder and the door was shut with a well meaning eye roll on Bonnie's behalf.

Marceline decided that she’d start with gathering the plates that littered their room, taking the liberty to pile them up next to the sink with the mugs and cutlery. She’d get to work on washing them later. The text books and sticky notes were organised as best she possibly could, keeping her piles separated from Bonnie’s, and she even dog eared the page that Bonnibel had been reading before filing the book away in the overflowing bookshelf. Deciding that maybe Bonnibel didn’t want to leave the room at all in the next twelve hours, an old shirt and some pyjama bottoms were plucked from Bonnie’s drawers.

Marceline knocked on the bathroom door. “Coming in.”

She was oh so very thankful that Bonnibel liked her showers hot; the steam that fogged the glass was the only thing hiding Bonnibel’s modesty, and the red that crept up Marceline’s neck was more than aware that her friend was wearing absolutely nothing beyond the glass door.

“You know I was joking about the perving,” Bonnibel’s voice carried through the room. “Right?”

Marceline rolled her eyes. “Har har,” She replied dryly, setting the clothes down next to the sink. “I’ve seen you naked before, dork.” And why oh why had her brain decided that that particular sentence was okay? With Bonnibel naked a few feet away from her?

Bonnibel hummed. “I was a prepubescent twelve year old,” She said. “Things have changed.”

“Right,” The word came out strangely strangled as Marceline straightened her back and headed back out the door. “Have fun with that.”

The urge to open her results without Bonnibel was enough to make Marceline get started on washing the dishes, putting a playlist on her phone just so she had something to jam to that wasn’t the sound of running water.

It worked almost too well; Marceline didn’t hear the shower turn off, nor did she notice the bathroom door open and click shut. The damp arms that snaked around her waist did make her jump and almost drop a mug, though.

“Shit-! You’re gonna be the death of me,” Marceline hissed, body going rigid for a split second. The mug in her hands was put on the side to dry and she turned in Bonnie’s grasp to face her, looking up into blue eyes with a grin. The usual light had returned to them, and Bonnibel didn’t look to be on the verge of tears. “Feeling better?”

Bonnibel nodded. “Who knew you actually had good ideas?”

Marceline gave an overly dramatic gasp. “Bonnibel Bennett, are you telling me that you don’t think my ideas are amazing?”

“Yes,” Bonnibel said around her grin, putting her forehead on the other girls shoulder. Marceline didn’t mind the damp skin, nor did she mind when Bonnibel’s wet hair fell against the side of her neck. She braced her hands on the edge of the counter, knowing all too well that it could leave indents in her back for leaning against it too long. “The good thing about being taller than you is that I can wrap you up like this and you can’t do anything about it.” Bonnibel yawned, contracting her arms around Marceline’s waist to prove her point. “Who’s the shortstack now, Marcy?”

Marceline pouted. “I stopped growing three years ago,” She muttered. “It’s not my fault you continued growing without me.”

Bonnibel hummed and they remained stood against the kitchen counter for what felt like hours. Marceline was kind of enjoying it a little more than she should; the scent of Bonnibel’s shampoo was relaxing and noticing how much the pink dye in her hair had faded made her smile to herself. Then Bonnibel leaned away ever so slightly, big blue eyes blinking down at her as if she wanted to say something. Bonnibel always wanted to say something. Probably science related. Definitely science related. “Results?”

“They’re over on the desk,” She turned her head to nod. Bonnibel took the opportunity to give her cheek a quick peck. Marceline fought the blush creeping up from her shoulders. “Wanna open them and watch a movie?”

“As long as we order some food,” Bonnibel said, stepping away and throwing her damp hair back over her shoulder. “I vote for the pizza place round the corner.”

Marceline sent her a wonky grin, pushing off of the counter to follow Bonnibel to the desk. “Sure thing, you okay with come with me in your jammies?” She gave her shoulder a gentle prod.

“They live… what? Five minutes away from campus? I’m sure they’ve seen worse.” Bonnibel muttered, collapsing down onto the chair so she could take both envelopes and hand Marceline hers.

“Like Finn in that onesie of his?”

“Exactly like Finn in that onesie.” Bonnibel agreed.

They both ripped open their results with a grin on their faces.

* * *

 

“I’m just saying, your lowest grade being a C isn’t that awful. Your dad can worry himself over it as much as he wants. I’m proud of you,” They were sat in the waiting area of the pizza place after getting their early because Bonnibel had insisted they leave just fifteen minutes after ordering. Bonnibel’s hand landed on her knee. “You got A’s in your music, right? That’s amazing.”

“My dad is gonna kill me,” Marceline groaned, letting her head fall and hit the wall behind her. She shot a sorry glance at the woman behind the counter and straightened her neck upright. “He expects me to get A’s all round. Two B’s and a C is basically a death sentence.”

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. “You’re taking advanced maths. That C could so easily turn into an A by the end of the year. And you were two marks off of an A in history. Be proud of yourself.” Marceline groaned one more time, just for the sake of it. “You have way too much faith in me.”She sighed. “Like… far too much. An illegal amount of faith.”

“Your dad must be a criminal, then.” Bonnibel muttered, reaching over to thumb away a stray eyelash from Marceline’s cheek.

Marceline spluttered. “Did you just-? _Bennett _,__ ” The second fake gasp of the evening. “Being mean to my father isn’t very saintly of you.”

“Screw saintly,” Bonnibel huffed, peering up at the clock on the wall. “What movie are we watching tonight?”

“How about we see how many jurassic park films we can get through?”Marceline offered. “I got them on box set a few years ago,”

“Are we including the new ones?”

“Absolutely not. The originals are way better.” Marceline screwed her face up in disgust. “My dad took me to go see the new ones and I felt like I was cheating on my babies.”

Bonnibel snorted. “Dramatic, but I understand. They’re not the same. Jurassic park trilogy it is.”

Their order was called and Bonnibel took the liberty of paying for the first time that week. Marceline took too much enjoyment out of watching the other girl smile and take their food from the women, the shirt she’d chosen for her far too baggy and sliding off of her shoulder. Maybe being in love with Bonnibel wasn’t easy, but it sure as hell was nice to think about pressing a kiss to her bare shoulder and whisper all the things she’d never ever say out loud to anyone. Things like how much she loved Bonnie’s freckles and how she loved when she was reading her glasses would slide to the end of her nose, or that Bonnie’s laugh and smile could cheer Marceline up in record breaking time. She had to stop herself from wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the pizza place, falling a few steps behind a yawning Bonnibel just to really admire her under the low lighting of the street lamps.

They got through one of the films before sleep took hold of Bonnibel. Marceline wanted desperately to curl up on the uncomfy couch with her friend, but that wouldn’t be good for either of their backs nor would the sun be kind to them in the morning. It was with great reluctance that Marceline put away the leftover pizza and hooked an arm under Bonnie’s legs and shoulders, carrying her over to her bed. She pressed a kiss to her forehead, lingering possibly a little too long and pulling away with a smile. Marceline got into bed knowing Bonnibel was _proud_ of her.

Sleep was easy to slip into that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey folks! remember to leave a comment, drop a kudos if you haven't already, bookmark this fic if you wanna easily come back to it, and consider donating to my kofi account! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP   
> i spend most of my free time writing fics and 0 time getting paid for doing it. thanks regardless!


	21. I Love You So

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marceline say something important and falls asleep straight afterwards. Of course she does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm one day late but !!! This fic was first written two months ago, that's crazy! Tysm for sticking with this fic! Nine more chapters to go!!!

****Finn (6:09AM):**** you’re nuts.

Marceline twisted her mouth in thought. Perhaps Finn was correct (which would be a first, bless him), but even if Marceline __was__ nuts that would make him nuts too, right? She glanced over at Bonnibel in the bed beside her.

 ** **Marceline (6:11AM):**** is that a yes or are you going to be boring?

 ** **Finn (6:11AM):**** why do you want to go out at the butt crack of dawn?

 ** **Finn (6:12AM):**** why am I considering joining you

 ** **Marceline (6:14AM):**** because I can trust you to keep things to yourself and I need some fresh air. also, you didn’t have to respond to my text

 ** **Finn (6:15AM):**** if you scroll up a little bit there’s a message saying if I didn’t respond you’d come to my dorm and yell loudly

 ** **Finn (6:15AM):**** I kinda had to respond

He was right, damn him. Marceline rolled her eyes.

 ** **Marceline (6:16AM):**** just meet me at our table ?

 ** **Finn (6:17AM):**** sure thing

* * *

 

Marceline huffed, her breath coming out in a light mist because of the early morning chill. The phone in her pocket buzzed but she didn’t have to look at it to see what it was; Finn was rounding the corner with his own phone in hand, grinning up at her with his boyish grin.

“Don’t get me wrong, Abadeer, I’m flattered you trust me but why do you need to talk to me outside?” He greeted, stopping just a little short of where she was leaning against the table. “Please tell me this isn’t some weird drug exchange.”

Marceline snorted. “I know your brother uses your phone sometimes. I’d rather not have textual evidence of what I’m about to tell you.” Finn arched his brow, but remained silent and expectant of a reason they were outside in the cold. Marceline exhaled heavily. “I have a huge crush on Bonnie,” She muttered. “And before you say anything I’m aware it’s like… totally obvious.”

“Okay,” Finn nodded, eyes rolling upwards in thought. “So we’re outside because?”

Marceline shoved him gently. “ _Because_ I’m panicking over the fact that if I tell her she’ll think I’m some creep.”

“You _are_ a creep,” Finn joked, elbowing her back in jest. “But I doubt Bonnie of all people would think bad of you for having feelings for her. You can’t control who you like.”

“I _know_ ,” Marceline insisted, because really she did know. She’d gone through everything in her head and Bonnibel reacting negatively was the least of her problems. It was just nice to express _all_ her worries. “But… what if she completely outright rejects me? Or it makes everything awkward?”

“Hm, I don’t think it’d be weird between you two. You’ve known each other forever. Wait… actually I wanna know when you started liking her. Was it when you hated her or was it a specific moment?”

Marceline groaned and let her eyes slide shut. “I started liking her when she dragged me round the back of her dads shed and kissed me.”

Finn’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh,” He said, clearly not at all expecting _that_. “Uh, can I ask for a little more context?”

“We were thirteen and she wanted to practice on me for quote on quote when she encountered boys.” Marceline explained. “Between us I knew I was bi, knew that I liked her more than platonically and knew that she definitely wasn’t straight. So, that was an experience for a good seven months before she left.”

“ _ _Oh__ ,” Finn repeated, eyebrows climbing forever higher. “So the fact that Bonnibel left wasn’t only the reason you were mad at her? You were also a little mooked that you couldn’t continue kissing your best friend that you had a crush on?”

“Exactly,” Marceline muttered, despite thinking that Finn’s description of her situation was a little more simpler than reality. “I was more than mooked, actually.”

Finn hummed in thought. “This makes a little more sense now. So you had a crush on her this entire time?” Marceline nodded. “Even when you were angry at her for leaving?” Another nod. “Okay, so… why are we out here again? Or did you just want to tell me that you’re crushing on Bonnie?”

“I need your advice asshole. What do I do?”

Finn rolled his eyes, sliding his hands into his pockets as he looked at her like the answer was simple. “Just ask her on a date,” He said. “If you knew she was kinda gay and __she__ was the one to initiate this whole kissing behind her dads shed thing then maybe she was sending you signals.”

“And what about recently? What kind of signals has she been giving me since we started last year?”

Finn huffed and raised his hand between them. “She’s insanely close and comfortable with you,” A finger went up. Great, they were listing all the possible ways Marceline has been oblivious in the past year. “She kisses your cheek a lot, she likes snuggling with you while watching a movie.” Two more fingers joined the first. “She called you cute that one time and flirted with you? Also she has a thing about your legs.” His other hand joined the first. “She trusts you to order her food, she lets you hold her hand whenever you want, drunk Bonnie seems __very__ adamant on experimenting with you whatever that means. Oh! She also asked you to be her fake girlfriend and told you about the study group so you didn’t feel uncomfortable.” All five fingers went up in quick succession. “I’d say more but I don’t have extra hands.”

Marceline glowered at him. “That means nothing.”

“Alright,” Finn huffed, half rolling his eyes at her. “But who else does she do all that with?” Marceline opened her mouth, blinked a few times, clicked it shut when she didn’t have an answer. “Exactly. She does all that stuff just for you. I don’t go around kissing my friends cheeks and telling them I think their legs look nice. Nor do I fake a relationship with them. It all seems very… planned out. She likes you.”

Marceline spluttered. “She does not.”

“You’re only saying that because you don’t know what you’d do if she did like you.” Finn said around his smug grin. “Which, she clearly does. Ask her out, Abadeer.”

Marceline didn’t even realise that Finn had begun walking away until she’d come up with a vaguely good response along the lines of ‘absolutely not you’re insane’. By then he was out of sight. Marceline sighed, sending another cloud of breath billowing upwards. The Mertens brothers were always right. Damn them.

* * *

 

“Iced coffee,” Was the immediate greeting Marceline got when she slid into the dorm room. She’d almost forgotten that it was a study group day. Bonnibel was seated in Marceline’s bed, the duvet pulled up over her lap with a notebook and a text book sprawled out across the rest of the empty space. “It’s on the counter,” Bonnie continued, nodding to the cup in question.

Marceline swiped it up with her free hand, the other one busy with shrugging off the guitar case from her shoulder and placing it gently at the end of her bed. “Are you dorks nearly done?” She mumbled, closing her mouth around the straw and letting out a pleasant hum when the cool liquid met her tongue.

“Almost,” Bonnibel replied, swiping both books from beneath Marceline before she could even collapse onto the bed. “Phoebe and Jake are done, Finn just needs a little extra time with his english essay.”

Marceline glanced around the room. “No Lady today?”

“Ill,” Jake replied, glancing up from his phone. “Says she didn’t want to infect anyone.”

“Valid.” Marceline said, taking another sip of her coffee. “How’d you do in your exams?”

The look on his face looked a little disappointed, but he shrugged it off and went back to tapping at his phone as he answered. “Alright. I passed two of my classes.”

Bonnibel put a hand on Marceline’s shoulder and pulled her backwards so she was leaning her entire weight onto Bonnibel’s front. Marceline already knew that it meant lots of snuggling was in store for her that night. “What are we doing tonight? I have a movie we could watch but it’s completely up to you.”

“Depends on the movie. I am really tired already though, so I might have to nap beforehand.” Marceline replied, putting her coffee on the desk so she could wrap herself up around Bonnie properly. “Might sleep now, thinking about it.” She yawned, resting her forehead on Bonnibel’s shoulder.

Bonnie pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head, careful not to catch the attention of anyone else in the room. “Ocean’s eight? I’ve heard it’s a good movie.”

“That’s the one with Rihanna and the other kick ass women, yeah?” Bonnibel nodded. “Awesome, yeah. We’ll watch that then. Love me a movie about women.”

Finn snorted from where he was sat cross legged on Bonnie’s bed. “I went to see it. It wasn’t that good.”

Marceline sat up to face him. “That’s because you’re a straight white male. You wouldn’t know a good movie unless it had the marvel logo slapped across it.”

“Fair,” Finn agreed, shooting her a grin. “I do think it could’ve been a little less boring though. It seemed to drag on for too long.”

“It’s a heist movie,” Jake snuck his way into the conversation. “The build up was fine. In fact, the whole movie was fine. You’re just being a loser about it because you expected more men in it.”

“The originals had lots of dudes,” Finn defended himself, pouting at his brother. “Sue me for expecting the spin off to have a couple of guys in it.”

“Let me guess, you didn’t like the new ghost busters either?” Jake asked. When Finn shook his head no Marceline rolled her eyes. “Marceline’s right. You’re just a straight white male.”

“And you’re not?” Finn teased. “Or is there something you’re not telling us?”

“There’s a difference; I have a girlfriend.” Jake laughed, narrowly dodging the pen thrown at his head. The textbook (loaned from Bonnibel) hit him square in the chest, though. As did the pillow and an assortment of objects that came from his bag.

“Boys,” Bonnibel warned, voice uncharacteristically stern as she glared at the brothers. “If you’re both finished you can leave. Go see if Lady is okay or something.”

Phoebe was the first to her feet, muttering a goodbye as she held the door open for Finn and Jake. There was a yell of ‘I enjoyed the film,’ before the door clicked shut that made Marceline smile to herself. Her eyes slid shut on their own accord; Bonnibel’s hand had somehow worked its way into her hair and Marceline had always been a sucker for having her hair be played with. It lulled her into that grey area between being awake and being asleep. Bonnibel’s mouth pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Will you be here when I wake up?” Marceline mumbled, allowing herself to be shifted so Bonnie could wrap them both up in the duvet.

Bonnie sent her a smile, though she never saw it. “You’re practically on top of me,” She pointed out. “I dare say I’ll still be here when you wake up.”

Marceline hummed. “I love you.” There was a part of her that was glad she wasn’t awake to hear Bonnibel’s response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Support me via kofi and comments! https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	22. What You Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which i dive head first into this fic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAH !! It's here!   
> Quick note: this is probably the only song title that is very relevant to the fic (it's on both playlists) and i can firmly say it's definitely Bonnie's perspective. That's all you're getting.

Marceline shifted. The cold feet on her lower back were expected, but the light shove given from Bonnibel was enough to really make Marceline wake. The first thing she noticed was the room was pitch black, but as her eyes adjusted and she glanced over her shoulder she saw a very tired and very grouchy looking Bonnibel behind her. Oh, goodie.

“I’m awake,” Marceline grumbled when Bonnibel pushed her again, feet traded for hands this time. “You’re fucking annoying this time of night. I swear to- _mph _,__ ” Bonnibel reached up and to grab one of their pillows, pressing it firmly against Marceline’s face before she finally let go and stood up.

The glare on Bonnie’s face was mildly terrifying when Marceline couldn’t quite make out her entire face in the dark. “I’ve been trying to wake you up for ten minutes. Come with me,” A hand was offered between them but Marceline could only glance up at Bonnibel’s stern face. The hand reached down to grab at her wrist. “Come with me.” She repeated, giving Marceline a firm tug.

“You’re bossy when you’re tired.” Somehow Marceline had forgotten that Bonnie had a temper when she was running on very little sleep. Where Marceline was sleepy and passive, Bonnibel was tired and overly angry at every little inconvenience. It was best for her to just go along with whatever Bonnibel had in store for her.

Bonnibel led her out of their dorm, storming them both down the hallway and out of the building via the fire escape. Marceline inhaled sharply at the cold, but allowed herself to be led halfway across campus before Bonnibel finally stopped and turned around to face her. There wasn’t anything special that Marceline could see as she carefully glanced at their surroundings, but the look on Bonnibel’s face was enough for her to not ask questions.

“I’m tired,” She said instead. “And cold.”

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. “You promised me we’d get married.” Was not something Marceline was ever expecting to come out of her mouth at god knows what time in the morning. She was suddenly a lot less cold, though, so that was a bonus. “So… here we are.” Bonnibel continued, arms stretched out to gesture around them. “Getting married.”

Marceline narrowed her eyes. “Why are we really out here, huh? You don’t get angry sleepy often.”

Bonnibel had looked frazzled the entire time, but her worries seemingly melted away with a big exhale. “I’ve been up all night thinking about getting married because my mother said she was attending a wedding next week. I just want to get married for the sake of being married so I don’t have to marry someone I don’t love just to make my parents happy.”

“Ouch,” Marceline huffed, crossing her arms with a small pout. “Are you saying I’m… what? For tax purposes?”

Bonnibel balled her hands into fists and began hitting lightly at Marceline’s chest. “I’m saying I _love_ you, idiot. Hence the wedding. We’re getting married, right now. Please?”

“Oh, uh,” Marceline blinked. “Sure? I’ve never been to a wedding before though. Not sure how these things go. Aren’t we supposed to have vows?”

“You’re so dense.” Bonnibel muttered. Marceline opened her mouth to ask her what that was supposed to mean, but found that Bonnibel had wrapped her up in a hug and was sobbing into her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Marceline sighed, gently wrapping her friend up in her arms. “No need to be sorry, Bon. What’s wrong? Why’re we out here?”

There was a watery laugh. “To get married. I wasn’t joking… but also because my parents found Rob last night,” Bonnibel breathed out. Marceline felt herself relax visibly. “They called me saying he’s safe and I’ve genuinely been up all night thinking that if he _died_ I would be the last Bennett and my parents value and love family and-,”

“And you don’t wanna let them down?” Marceline finished for her, tightening her arms around her when she nodded and sobbed louder. “You’re not a disappointment, Bonnie. You’re a fucking genius, your parents love you.”

“I’m sorry your mum died. I’m sorry I left you. I love you and I’d rather marry you than anyone else,” Came out in a garbled mess of syllables and gasps for air.

“You’ve said that twice now,” Marceline pointed out. “Should I be worried that you’re going to start hitting on me?”

Bonnibel shoved her playfully, only to wrap her arms around her middle immediately after. She sniffed. “You say that like it’s such an awful thing. We used to hit on each other as kids.”

“We were both very inexperienced and in the closet.” Marceline reminded her. “I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count as actually hitting on each other. Unless Jake tells Lady he likes her teeth every night.”

“That was _one time_ ,” Bonnibel yawned, palming at her tear sodden eyes. “And I wasn’t just talking about that, I mean we also kissed a whole bunch. Wasn’t that weird for you?”

“Weird how? Weird as in ‘Oh my best friend just dragged me round the back of a shed to kiss me’ or weird as in ‘Oh god I really fucking love girls’.” That earned her another punch to the chest.

“Both,” Bonnibel muttered, a cute little furrow to her brow. “I knew you were bi but… wasn’t that a huge indication?”

“Bonnie, I was an oblivious twelve year old. I thought that’s what girls did all the time.” Marceline reminded her. “I only knew you were gay when you told me you had a crush on Miss Honey from Matilda.”

“No I mean,” Bonnibel let out a breath and leaned back ever so slightly, blue eyes peering down at Marceline as if she wasn’t understanding something simple. “Wasn’t it a dead give away that I might have liked you a lot?”

“Well, yeah, of course. You never had that amount of trust with anyone,” Marceline replied, much to Bonnibel’s outwardly visible frustration. “I just felt extra lucky that you felt comfortable enough with me to say hey let's have a go.”

“First of all, I did not say hey let's have a go.” Bonnibel grumbled. “Secondly, I meant… _Surely_ you knew I liked you more than a friend should have?”

Marceline’s brows furrowed. “I’m not following.”

“Marceline Abadeer I am _trying_ to tell you I’ve had a crush on you since we were kids so can you please wake up before I have an aneurysm.” Marceline allowed herself to be shoved roughly away, brain too focussed on imploding in on itself to even bother registering the angry rant Bonnibel was probably having about how unlucky she was having feelings for an idiot. She definitely did have a point.

“I uh, I like you too,” Marceline mumbled out, finally recovering. “Definitely way more than a friend. Have done since we kissed and there was a spider in your hair and I freaked out and almost punched you in the face.” She sent her friend a slanted grin.

“I know,” Bonnibel said, earning another look of absolute shock cross Marceline’s features. “But while you were busy panicking over knowing that you had those feelings I was panicking because I didn’t know what my feelings meant. It’s taken me the past few months to use my big brain and realise that my feelings for you were anything but friendly.”

Marceline sent her a dopey smile. “Anything but, yeah?”

“Shut up,” Bonnibel shot back, the red on her cheeks flaring. “At least I flirted with you. You just awkwardly stand around staring at me as if I don’t notice.”

“Wait- You flirted with me?” The pieces clicked together as Marceline spluttered to find the right words. “Oh my god when I went for coffee and you were talking about that discount, I _hate_ you.”

Bonnibel shot her a cheeky smile. “Are those your vows?”

“Of course they are.” Marceline replied. “But we are not getting married outside our college at fuck knows what time in the cold. I’m going back to sleep.” She turned on her heel.

“Our dorm is this way,” Bonnibel called, trailing off in the opposite direction. “And you’d better ask me out on a date, considering I just confessed for the both of us.”

Marceline’s stomach whirled.

* * *

 

“You’re particularly smiley today,” Was Lady’s greeting when Marceline sidled up to their table in the coffee shop. “Bought a new instrument?”  

Marceline shot her a bigger grin. “Can’t I just be happy?” She asked, pilfering one of the biscuits from Finn’s plate. At Lady’s flat stare Marceline rolled her eyes. “If you must know I had a nice sleep.” She lied.

“Of course,” Lady muttered. “I want you to know that Ellen and Brooke have invited us all to go shopping. Please be on your best behaviour.” She teased, giving Marceline’s shin a gentle kick.

“With Ellen around?” Marceline scoffed. “She better be on a leash.”

Finn whistled. “That’s mean, Abadeer. What’s she done to you?”

“I’ll have you know Ellen went to my middle school,” She grumbled. “Before you say anything no I didn’t talk to her and she probably doesn’t remember me. She was a particularly nasty gossiper with a large posse of equally mean girls that followed her around all the time. Some of them didn’t like me,” Marceline explained, picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of her jacket. “It was mutual. Plus, people like her are boring anyway. Gossip this and rumour that. None of it was true.”

“What nasty things did she say about you, Abadeer? We could go and beat her up if you’d like.” Phoebe elbowed her side. “Or… well, it’s Ellen. We could just steal her credit card.”

“We never talked,” Marceline repeated. “It was her friends. Can’t remember them much, Fiona was around… I think she helped spread a rumour that I was a vampire? Dumb middle school shit.”

Finn grinned. “You _are_ a vampire.”

“Just because I sleep all day and can be unpleasant at times does not mean I’m a vampire. I love garlic.” Marceline shot back with a flat look. She took the last biscuit from him with a smirk. “Before this conversation devolves any further, I promise I won’t call her anything bad to her face.” She said, turning back to Lady.

“Good.” Lady nodded. “Heaven forbid you tell her something she disagrees with, _you’ll_ be in soup.”

Marceline snorted. Why had she allowed this dumb soup thing to be some sort of inside joke between them? “I’m always in soup,” She muttered. “When are we setting off on this lovely shopping adventure, anyway? Is Bonnie coming along?” She had to fight the urge to grin at the mention of the redhead, their conversation from the night before pushing itself to the forefront of her mind.

“We’re waiting on her, actually,” Jake replied. “She should be here in twenty.”

Marceline nodded and started on untangling her earphones, perplexed how they’d gotten in such a tangled state when they were neatly wrapped around her phone not an hour ago. Waiting for Bonnibel was something she’d been getting good at.

* * *

 

Marceline had forgotten how much she hated shopping. Ellen, Lady and Brooke were all very interested in visiting every shop in the mall. Even Phoebe seemed to be positively beaming at the thought of buying a new outfit or shoes.

As Ellen led them into the sixth shop of the day Marceline could feel herself beginning to regret tagging along with the group; Finn and Jake were far too energetic for a day trip to the mall, and the girls were giddy with gossip and the thoughts of buying a whole outfit.

“This sucks,” Marceline grouched to Finn as the group stopped in front of a shelf of shoes. “I was expecting maybe two stores and lunch.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “You clearly don’t know women like you thought you did. They’ll stop at nothing to buy new clothes.” He replied, taking one look at a shirt Lady was holding up and giving her a nod. “Looks good, are you trying those on?”

“Duh,” Phoebe cut in before Lady could reply, a few shirts slung over her arm as she thumbed at a pair of jeans on the rack. “What’s the point of buying them if they end up being the wrong size? Hold these?”

Marceline found herself being passed Phoebe’s hoard of clothes. “I didn’t come here to be a pack mule,” She grumbled, peering over the top of the pile. She caught Bonnibel’s eye, sending her a playful glare when she noticed Bonnie fight back laughter. “When are we grabbing lunch anyway?”

“Probably soon,” Bonnibel replied, spinning to face Lady who was now peering at one of the dresses behind them. “Brain fuel for the rest of the day?”

“We’ll finish up here,” Lady nodded. She searched for her size and snagged one of the teal dresses up from the rack, examining it before glancing up at the dressing rooms across the store. “I’m going to try these on. Brooke?”

Marceline was dragged along with them, Phoebe using her as an extra set of hands to carry the clothes across the room while she perused the rest of the store at her leisure, eventually finding themselves at the dressing rooms.

“Thanks for offering to carry my clothes, Abadeer.” The redhead huffed, taking the pile from Marceline and shuffling into one of the cubicles. Marceline kept her mouth closed; Phoebe definitely knew she hadn’t offered.

“At least she didn’t make me go in with her,” Marceline joked, turning to face the group behind her. Except, Finn and Jake had left to go do god knows what and the other girls had found a changing room to try on their new outfits. Bonnibel was the last one standing.

“Yeah,” Bonnibel hummed. “At least you’re not gonna come in with me, either.” She muttered lowly around a funny little smile, sending Marceline a wink when a woman exited one of the rooms. “That’d be bad for your health.”

“Bad for my… ? Wait-,” Marceline was cut off by the sound of the curtain being tugged closed and she was left to fight back the pink tinge at her cheeks. Bonnibel had always known how to make Marceline blush; even though she was awful at flirting with her Bonnibel had her ways of embarrassing Marceline when they were alone, often through teasing remarks about their sapphic shenanigans behind her fathers shed, or _during_ said moments she’d try her very hardest to go out of her way and make Marceline a red that matched the faded streaked paint on the fence gate. Marceline was brought out of her embarrassed stupor when her phone pinged from her back pocket.

 **Jake (1:23PM):** Tell the girls we headed out to find a table for lunch. You can come hang out with us If you want to evade potentially another store.

Marceline sighed. “The boys have gone to get a table,” She called into the changing rooms, turning on her heel to start heading out herself.

“Hang on,” Bonnibel snagged her sleeve, tugging her into the cubicle. “I need an opinion on this. Does it look alright or should I get it in a different colour?”

Marceline glanced up from her phone to eye curiously at Bonnibel’s face, then dropped her gaze to the baby pink tennis skirt she was twirling around her legs. Marceline blinked. “Uh, looks good.” She muttered, nodding and glancing back up at Bonnibel. “Looks nice on, uh, you know. Legs.” Marceline shot her friend a slanted grin and shrugged her shoulders.

“You’re utterly useless,” Bonnibel huffed although smiling widely. “Go on, you can go find Finn and Jake.”

“Thank god,” Marceline huffed. “I’ll see you later.”

She made her way into the crowded food hall, squinting at the bustling mass of tables and people moving around finding spaces to eat their lunch for all of a minute before pulling her phone out.

 **Marceline (1:31PM):** Where ya at, Jacob?

 **Jake (1:31PM):** Near pizza hut, also my mother calls me Jacob. Don’t be my mother.

Marceline grinned.

 **Marceline (1:32PM):** I AM your mother.

 **Jake (1:32PM):** That’s just whack. Don’t come and sit with us if you’re gonna be whack.

 **Marceline (1:33PM) **:**** I’m always whack. I’ll be over there shortly.

* * *

 

“You girlies took your time,” Jake swung backwards on his chair, eyeing his girlfriend as she rounded the table with bags in each hand. “Let me guess, you stopped at one more shop?”

Lady rolled her eyes at him, choosing to ignore his teasing as she collapsed into the chair beside him. “Where are we all grabbing food? Should we have a designated food orderer?” The rest of the group nodded as they sat down around the table.

“I have a salad with me,” Ellen replied. “But I could go round and order for everyone with my card and you can pay me back?”

“That sounds doable,” Phoebe nodded. She sat herself down between Finn and Jake. “I’m okay with getting something from wherever the majority wants to eat.”

Ellen began fishing around in her bag, pulling out her phone after a minute of searching. “I’ll write down everyone’s orders. What do the Mertens brothers want?”

“I’m pretty sure we both want a burrito,” Jake replied, glancing at Finn who nodded in response. “Yeah, from anywhere but KFC do them really well.”

“Brooke?”

“I’ll take a pizza.”

“I’m okay with getting something when I get home,” Bonnibel said with a smile when Ellen’s eyes landed on her expectantly. “Me and Marceline usually order takeaway or eat out.”

A pause.

“I didn’t need to know that,” Ellen muttered lowly, closing her eyes shut. The rest of the table devolved into hysterics, Marceline included, while Bonnibel remained clueless. “What you two choose to do in your own time does not need to be public information.” Ellen continued, turning to Marceline. “I’m guessing this means you won’t be having anything?”

“I want food,” Marceline pouted. “I’m a bottom after all.” More laughter from her friends, and Bonnibel finally clicked and dug her foot into Marceline’s shin under the table. “I’d like a burger, thanks.”

“I’ll have something from KFC, just so you’re not running about the place,” Lady said around her mirth. “Jake, go with her just in case?”

Jake opened his mouth, Marceline assumed he was going to complain loudly, but Lady stopped him short with a kiss on the cheek and a well timed shoulder stroke. He stood without a word.

“You’re so fucking whipped,” Marceline muttered when he passed her chair. “Like, dude, seriously?”

“Coming from you.” Jake sang in reply.

Marceline pouted. “I’m the least whipped.” She huffed, watching Ellen and Jake head off to grab their lunches.

Bonnibel cleared her throat. “Not even for me?” She batted her eyelids.

The blush on her cheeks probably gave more away to her friends than it did to Brooke, who just sat there on her phone completely unaware. “Maybe a little,” She ground out, trying not to meet Bonnibel’s eyes. “But not nearly as much as Jake is.”

“So you won’t come over here and sit next to me so I can hold your hand?” Bonnie pouted.

It was with a great sigh that Marceline very willingly stood on her feet to round the table, collapsing into the chair beside her friend. Bonnibel’s hand enveloped hers. “I’m only here because I’m cold,” Marceline lied. “And I was lonely over there.”

Bonnibel rolled her eyes but wrapped her up in a hug anyway. “Sweetie, you’re whipped. I’m sorry.”

“Y’all are cute,” Brooke commented, peering up from her phone to marvel at them both. “But I think you’re both kind of whipped.”

Marceline snorted. “Bonnie? Whipped? For _me_? You’re crazy.”

“Hey,” Bonnibel hummed softly, pulling away to look into Marceline’s eyes. “I _love_ you. And you love me.”

The red head always had a knack for being right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments, kudos, bookmarks, you know the drill by now. Support me via kofi! (it's £3) https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	23. Like We Used To

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where there's some date shenanigans and light bdsm is brought up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy pride month! :)

There was a boy on Bonnibel’s bed. Marceline had to stop herself from outwardly frowning; Brooke and Bonnie were still present and it would just be rude of her to judge this unnamed boy invading her personal space. She glanced at Bonnie and got nothing but that swirly feeling in her stomach she’d been growing to love.

Brooke offered her more than she could ask. “That’s Ricardio. Although he’s told us he prefers Ricky,” She muttered. Judging by the tone of Brooke’s voice Marceline decided the frown was correct etiquette for this social situation.

Marceline seated herself next to Bonnibel, trying her best to ignore the new set of eyes trailing her every move. Instead, she focused on the smile that bloomed on the red heads face when she prodded her shoulder.

“Hey, Marceline,” Bonnie greeted, using her finger as a bookmark in the textbook she was reading. “This is Ricky. He’s a new student so me and Brooke have been catching him up on chemistry stuff.”

Marceline nodded dumbly. “Chemistry stuff, huh?” She gave her friend a smirk. “Speaking of which, I need to ask you if you’re free tonight.”

Brooke whistled. “Is it date night in the Abadeer Bennett household?”

“Something like that,” Marceline replied around her grin. “As long as she’s free and I don’t keep her up too late on a school night, right?” She then turned back to Bonnibel, smiling when she saw her loaded comment had made her friend blush.

“I know you know I’m free, Abadeer,” Bonnibel replied. “Where are you taking me?”

“That’s for me to know,” Marceline sang.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes. “If I find out you’re taking me into the woods to murder me I’ll be very disappointed in you.” She muttered, sending her grinning friend a pointed stare. The smirk on her face said she was happy with the arrangements.

“Didn’t realise you were a lesbian.” Ricky _finally_ spoke up, eyes never once leaving the book in his hands as he idly flipped to another page.

Marceline set him with a flat look. “Why? Does it ruffle feathers?”

“No ma’am,” Ricky replied innocently, but the ghost of a smirk on his lips made Marceline think otherwise. “Just seems like everyone’s gay nowadays.” He turned to glance up at her. “Makes no sense to me.”

“What’s not making sense?” Brooke asked. “People are comfortable with their sexual identities, it’s really not that confusing.”

“All the pretty girls are gay,” He grumbled out, peering at Bonnibel through his short fringe. Marceline’s frown shrivelled into something of a grimace. “It just doesn’t make sense that they’d date each other and not… I don’t know, nice guys like myself.” Marceline just __had__ to snort at that. He glowered at her from Bonnibel’s bed and began shuffling his book into his satchel. “I’ll be leaving now.” He sighed, standing and taking a few strides towards Bonnibel and Marceline. “Thanks for having me, Bonnibel.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and shot her a smile that made Marceline feel uneasy, and then he had left and the door was shut.

“I don’t like him,” Marceline mumbled. “Homophobic nice guy asshat.”

“You said you didn’t like Brooke the first time you met her,” Bonnibel replied. They both ignored the small ‘hey’ given by their friend. “But I do have to agree. Unfortunately we’ve been told we only have to help him until he understands where we are in the work. Here’s to hoping he learns quickly.”

Marceline fell backwards on her bed and slid her eyes shut. _Hopefully,_ she thought bitterly, _he learns that looking at Bonnie like that ever again will piss me off._

* * *

 

Marceline was awaken from slumber by someone gently shaking her shoulders. She screwed her eyes shut tighter in hopes she continue dreaming about Simon and her mother. The hands on her shoulders continued tugging at her shirt, wriggling her out of the blurred space between consciousness and her dream state. Her ears picked up an alarm in the background, which probably  meant… “ _Shit_ - _ _,__ ” Marceline sat up straight, rubbing her eyes of sleep as she peered around the room, finally landing on Bonnibel sat on the bed beside her. “How long has it been-?” She gestured vaguely to her annoying beeping phone.

“About thirty seconds, so you can relax.” Bonnibel said with a breathy laugh. Marceline didn’t mind when her hands moved from being balled up in her shirt to just rest at the nape of her neck. “What’s the alarm for?”

“Date,” Marceline rasped, still completely disoriented. And then, “I slept for two hours?”  

Bonnibel smiled at her softly and nodded, her fingers toying with the loose hair that had broken free of Marceline’s now messy ponytail. It was almost enough to soothe her back to sleep. “You completely zonked out after getting home. I figured it’d be best to just leave you to sleep so I went out to get some bits and bobs from the store.” She explained, drawing her bottom lip between her teeth. Marceline’s now distracted brain barely caught the next sentence. “Are we setting off soon or is this alarm a pre-emptive one?” She nodded to the beeping from Marceline’s phone.

Marceline shut it off with a huff. “We can go whenever you want. The alarm was just there so I didn’t forget.”

Bonnibel shoved her playfully. “Marceline Abadeer are you saying you’d forget to go on your first date with me?”

“I’m useless,” Marceline retorted with a smile. “The alarm was my last resort so if I _did_ end up forgetting, or falling asleep, I’d have it as a back up.”

“Hm,” Bonnibel narrowed her eyes and twisted her lips in thought. “I suppose I can let you off, _but_ only if you tell me where we’re going.”

Marceline rolled her eyes. “Not happening. I can show you, though.” She shot her friend (or… girlfriend? Is that how it worked? No, they weren’t together yet. Still, that word made Marceline’s stomach do weird things inside her body.) a smile and offered her a hand. Bonnibel took it with some feigned reluctance and it dawned on Marceline that she was about to do something she’d been dreaming of for almost an entire decade. Her heart was suddenly in her throat.

* * *

 

The drive to their destination was a relatively short one; Marceline had been before and going to the over side of town was only a thirty minute affair. Traffic wasn’t as bad as she thought it would’ve been, either, which meant she was stress free and could relax in the driver's seat. Well… relatively.

“Can I take this thing off now?” Bonnibel asked for what seemed to be the seventh time during their journey. Marceline swatted Bonnibel’s hand away from tugging at the makeshift blindfold (it was one of Bonnibel’s pyjama shirts) over her eyes.

“Absolutely not,” Marceline replied around a fond smile. “This date _will_ be a surprise whether you like it or not, nerd.”

Bonnibel huffed from the seat beside her. “Can I at least know what was in the bag you put in the back seat? And why am I blindfolded? Should I be worried about rope burns?”

For some reason that comment made Marceline flush red. “For the last time I’m not kidnapping you,” Marceline grumbled hoarsely, voice strangled as she tried to wind the window down. “Just… sit there and look pretty.”

“Who said anything about kidnapping?” Bonnibel replied darkly. Of course she’d caught on to the double entendre. Marceline slammed the brakes at a red light a little too harshly. “Joking,” Bonnibel sang, though the smile on her face was still laced with something indecent. “Do _you_ have to worry about rope burns?”

Marceline began spluttering. This date hadn’t even begun and Bonnibel was already making Marceline’s heart thud against her ribcage for different reasons than what was anticipated. “I’m going to pretend you’re not here so I can focus on getting us to our location in one piece.” She grumbled, turning onto the road just in front of their destination. Bonnibel just hummed and rested her head on the window.

Driving around the car park a few times to disorientate Bonnibel was almost funny. Almost because Bonnibel just kept frowning and telling her that if they continued driving in circles they’d waste gas and have less time to actually go on their date. That made Marceline rush to find a parking spot.

“Alright,” Marceline muttered, putting her hands on Bonnibel’s shoulders to guide her from their car to the front steps of the building. “Please don’t be disappointed.” She untied Bonnibel’s shirt and balled it up to put in the mystery plastic bag she had on her arm, hiding the contents from her friends view.

She nearly missed the grin that had bloomed on Bonnibel’s face as she looked down to check she had everything. “You brought me back,” Bonnibel breathed, turning to face her as she grinned impossibly wider. “I’m absolutely not disappointed by these arrangements.” And she accentuated her point with a kiss to Marceline’s cheek.

She took hold of Marceline’s hand and tugged her up the stairs into the main hall of the building. It wasn’t nearly as busy as Marceline had feared, but it wasn’t next to empty either. There was a group of students going up to the second floor, and the information desk had a handful of people queued up.

“Where are we starting?” Bonnibel asked, pulling Marceline closer by their linked hands.

She shrugged and glanced up at the signs pointing to where different exhibits were. “Uh, dinosaurs? That sounds pretty rad.”

“Jurassic age it is,” Bonnibel nodded, leading Marceline towards where the yellow signs were pointing. “Ooh! They have an interactive exhibit for the history of medicine section, we _have_ to go there afterwards.”

“Whatever you want, Bon.” Marceline mumbled, the fond smile on her face fighting its way back onto her face. She didn’t think about how easy it was to substitute the nickname for something too sappy, like _babe_ or _love_ or _darling_. Nor did she really think about anything other than dinosaurs, Florence Nightingale and the soft curve of Bonnibel’s smile for the next hour and a half.

The only thought that entered her brain that wasn’t any of the above was that it might be too dark for the next half of their date. It was already nearing eight o’clock and the sun was threatening to set in the distant soft peach coloured sky. The day would be nearing an end in about twenty minutes. And it was another half an hour drive back to campus.

Marceline found herself by Bonnibel’s ear as they exited the museum anyway. “Do you want... to go on a picnic in that park,” She levelled a finger to the right of the car park, where a cluster of trees and a small seating area sat next to small climbing frame and field. “Maybe for thirty minutes, depending on whether or not you’d rather go back home and watch a movie on your laptop.”

“Both seems doable,” Bonnibel replied softly. “We always fall asleep watching movies at this time anyway, so… yeah, let's do both.”

She had a point. Marceline guided Bonnibel out of the car park, having already paid for the full two hours anyway, and they crossed the road to the empty playground. It was definitely getting colder as the sun was still deciding whether it wanted to stay or dip below the horizon, but the breeze wasn’t at all uncomfortable; they’d both had on two layers anyway and it wasn’t as if it was scheduled for rain in the next thirty minutes.

The walk up the small grassy hill was pleasant and Marceline found herself being tugged down by Bonnibel when they got to the top. The bag was placed in front of them.

“I finally get to see the mysteries inside here, yeah?” Bonnibel said with a grin.

Marceline rolled her eyes but tugged out two glasses and a bottle from the plastic bag, followed by some crusty bread, jam and peanut butter. It had always been their favourite snack when they were younger.

“Was this expensive?” Bonnibel asked, peering at the bottle of champagne now in her hand. “Because I can pay you back if it was.”

“There’s really no need,” Marceline laughed softly. “You can pay me back on future dates.”

“Very doable,” Bonnibel grinned, opening the champagne with minimal mess. “In fact, I’m one hundred percent sure I can pay you back for the rest of my life. If that’s fine with you?” She poured them both drinks and handed Marceline her glass.

“Sounds like a wedding really is in order.” Marceline teased, taking a sip and humming in delight. “Of course I’m fine with it, nerd.” She turned and squinted against the sun. “Why did we sit here? Are you trying to blind me?”

“Give it five minutes.” Bonnibel replied under her breath. “And anyway, I don’t need the sun to blind you. We have the shirt for that.”

Marceline snorted. “Or, I don’t know, ask me to close my eyes? Not everything has to have some kinky undertones to it you know.”

“I never said anything about kinks. Maybe your subconscious is just developing a BDSM kink you don’t know about,” Bonnibel teased, prodding a finger against Marceline’s temple. “Maybe _you’re_ the one with the kinky undertones.”

Marceline just busied herself with eating one of her sandwiches and staring forward at the pale orange sky. The conversation that they devolved into for the next fifteen minutes was soft murmurs that mostly just consisted of Bonnibel telling her how nice the date had been. They both made use of the bottle of champagne that sat between them, and the snacks were eventually dwindled down to nothing but crusts. Then the sun dipped down below the horizon and Marceline knew exactly why Bonnibel had chosen to sit at the apex of the hill because… _wow_.

What had been a dull orange was now pastel pinks and yellows, the sun highlighting the clouds that were dotted in the sky above the skyline. Maybe it was the champagne, or the events of that evening, but Marceline’s veins buzzed in some odd mix of excitement and pure contentment.

“It’s really pretty,” Bonnibel sighed out from beyond Marceline’s peripherals.

Marceline’s mouth slanted up into a grin. “Ten bucks says you’re not looking at the sunset right now.”

Bonnibel didn’t reply, at least not verbally; she reached a hand up to cup Marceline’s jaw instead of responding to the teasing, turned her head to face her instead of rolling her eyes playfully, kissed her soundly.

The sky was nice, the sky bathed them in a soft golden glow, the sky looked like a masterpiece reserved just for them. The sky _was_ nice, sure, but it had _nothing_ on having Bonnibel’s lips pressed against her own. Her body felt like it was on fire, all her nerves bursting into supernovae like stars at the end of their lives. And yet, there was sudden numbness as if she’d been suddenly plunged into cold water, the only warmth, only _feeling_ being Bonnibel’s mouth moving against hers and the soft, sweet breaths against her skin.

Bonnibel pulled away by a slight increment, eyes still closed as she hummed softly. “This was… lovely.” She finally sighed, blue eyes fluttering open and tickling Marceline’s cheekbones with her eyelashes. “Thank you,”

On the journey home Bonnibel fell asleep in the passenger seat. Marceline didn’t really mind at all; her fingers were still trembling and carrying Bonnibel into their dorm room felt like more of a responsibility than a downside to the evening. And anyway, not watching a movie didn’t really matter when she licked her lips and tasted Bonnibel’s cherry lip gloss and champagne.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave kudos/comment/bookmark this fic!! Makes me smile.  
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/abadeerly  
> Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	24. Jumpstarted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Lady's detective work comes to an end. That's about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is 3k words. of nonsense. it's not even a good chapter. i'm sorry.

Finn had broken up with Hailey. Apparently. Supposedly. Hopefully? Marceline had been side eyeing the boy for twenty minutes since he’d sat down at their usual table with a girl in tow. She looked oddly familiar, but Marceline wasn’t great at remembering faces _or_ names so she chose to ignore the alerts in the back of her head. They were most definitely dating, if him kissing her as soon as he’d finished talking to Jake was anything to go by. She shot a wary glance Phoebe’s way and mouthed the words ‘who’s that?’ as best as she could without alerting the blonde’s attention. The red head gave her a shrug in response.

“Hey guys,” Bonnibel’s voice sang out from behind Marceline and her stomach swirled. The red head (Marceline was still very adamant on calling her that, even when Bonnibel had insisted they redye the pink) sat beside her with a smile pointed directly at the new girl. “Who’s this?”

Jake gave her a flat look. “None of us know, Finn’s keeping her name a secret.”

“None of you asked,” Finn responded with flushed cheeks. “This is Bee.” And he gestured towards the girl who had been awkwardly sitting next to him for the entire time. “She’s my girlfriend.”

Bonnibel nodded and offered her hand between her and Bee. “Hello Bee, I hope our group of oddballs doesn’t overwhelm you too much. Sorry in advance.”

Marceline snorted as Bee took Bonnibel’s hand tentatively. “Good luck, you’re gonna need it with Finn.” She snickered, watching as the boy flushed a darker red and brought his foot down against her shin.

“Why didn’t you tell us you broke up with Hailey?” Lady asked around the cup of coffee in her hand, not once looking up from her phone. “I had to find out through __Ellen__  of all people. That girl really likes her dramatics.”

Finn shrugged around his fading embarrassment and looked down at his lap. “She told me she was too involved in her work to think about dating. That was two weeks ago.”

Marceline wanted to say something about him moving on too quickly, but decided against it for the girls sake. Lady had another thing to say, anyway. “Sounds like someone else we know,” And she glanced to Bonnibel out of the corner of her eye with a smirk. “You’re twenty, in college, and still single, B. I’d offer to set you up on a date with some girl in the year below but __someone__ decided faking a relationship was better than actually dating.”

It looked like Bonnibel was going to tell her that, actually, she’d been dating Marceline for a good three days now, but shut her mouth to think of something less incriminating. “I can see where Hailey is coming from,” She said carefully. “We have exams soon and some of us are staying an extra year or two, it makes sense for her to want to focus on academics.” Marceline almost let herself feel a little scared by how Bonnibel was in agreement, but then Bonnibel’s hand found her knee under the table and gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze.

Lady rolled her eyes. “You’re gonna grow old and cynical like Marceline has if you don’t find someone soon, Bonnibel.”

“Hey!” Marceline interjected, sending Lady a playful scowl. “I’m only a few months older than some of you.”

“Still,” Lady hummed. “Bonnibel should find someone, doesn’t everyone agree?” For some reason, Jake glanced at Marceline wanly before agreeing. Finn just muttered an ‘I guess’ under his breath. Bee looked way out of her depth and Marceline almost felt sorry for her.

“What if she’s happy with being single?” Marceline mumbled, not too happy that the direction of the conversation was going into ‘Let’s set Bonnibel up on a date’ territory. “And plus, if she starts dating someone then Ellen will either think that I’m awful and broke up with her, or realise that we lied to her. God knows what would happen if either of those scenarios become true.”

The blonde sighed reluctantly. “You’re right. Unfortunately.” And then her eyes went to Bonnibel once more. “As long as you promise me you’ll at least be open to the idea of dating. You can’t waste all your lesbian potential in a fake relationship.”

Marceline very almost snorted, but busied herself with finishing the doodle she’d been absent mindedly drawing in her textbook. Bonnibel’s drawled yet friendly response made her laugh. “Gee, I dunno Lady, maybe I’ll continue to waste my sapphic energies.”

“I don’t think they’re going to waste,” Marceline mumbled under her breath into Bonnibel’s ear once Lady went back to chatting with Jake. Bonnibel smiled down at her lap as she pulled out a book from her bag. “I mean I know you’re __way__ out of my league and I don’t deserve you at all but-,”

“Oh shut up,” Bonnibel whispered back, fighting the burbling laughter coming from her throat. “You’re nice. All of my… what did she say? Lesbian potential? All of it is going to __very__  good use.”

Marceline hummed and pulled away from whisper distance, smiling fondly as Bonnibel pulled out her reading glasses and sat them atop her freckled nose. “Nice to know.” She muttered mostly to herself, but Bonnibel overheard and her smile widened.

Marceline continued reading her textbook in quiet contentment.

* * *

 

The study group was becoming less and less of a study group and more of a ‘let’s hang out with Bonnibel for an hour after all our lessons’. It made Marceline feel a lot more comfortable with sitting on the couch and focussing on the numerous games on her xbox while the others got on with their ‘work’. At least she wasn’t the only distraction in the room. Both figuratively and literally, what with Bonnibel being caught staring at her every other ten minutes.

When Jake stopped tapping his pencil on the side of the desk to throw it at Marceline’s head she squawked and swore under her breath from not expecting the projectile. Then she threw one of the pillows and it sailed too far to the left and ended up on Bonnibel’s lap.

“Sorry,” Marceline shrank back into the couch when her girlfriend gave her a friendly glare. “Jake started it.”

“No I didn’t.” Jake lied with a smile. “It slipped.”

Bonnibel raised her eyebrow. “And your arm just happened to go over your head while your pen fell? I’m impressed.” And then she threw the pillow back onto the couch. “Get your skinny butt on this bed, Abadeer. You need to show me the essay you’re handing into the teacher tomorrow.”

Marceline groaned but stood anyway, reaching around Jake’s work to grab her essay from the desk. “It’s probably alright,” She huffed. Bonnibel scooted up along the bed so her back was against the wall, patting the spot now free next to her for Marceline to sit cross legged. “I just needed your opinion on the conclusion. I feel like I need to put more in?”

Bonnibel hummed and put her hand on Marceline’s leg to read the last paragraph of Marceline’s essay. Why she couldn’t have just picked the paper up instead of invading the other girls personal space was beyond her, but she was sure the others were too invested in throwing their writing instruments at each other to bother paying attention to Bonnibel sitting a little closer to Marceline than usual.

“It’s good,” Bonnibel confirmed. “You misspelt a word or two but I can pencil in which words for you to go back over if you’d like?” She asked, not bothering to let Marceline reply as she leant all her weight on Marceline’s thigh to reach over for her pencil case on the pillow.

Marceline just swallowed and nodded. “Sure? I wrote it at three am so I was probably tired. Plus you were distracting me last night.”

“Oh?” Phoebe had apparently been paying more attention than Marceline had first thought. “That sounds dangerous.”

“Not like that,” Marceline grumbled. In truth, Bonnibel had just been seated on her lap, arms wrapped around her shoulders and fingers delicately playing with the collar of her flannel shirt. Nothing too dangerous had happened, save for Marceline having her ear piercing played with and Bonnibel had, at one point, pressed a kiss to the underside of her jaw. Bonnibel on her lap was, at its very least, a simple distraction. Anything other than that would’ve made her stop writing her essay. “She was just fretting over my health.” Marceline decided. “Too many late nights.”

Bonnibel hummed in agreement as she finished marking where Marceline had made some spelling errors. “You’re always napping. It worries me.”

“Sounds a little hypocritical if you ask me,” Jake added in, turning to face them. Finn was left with a pile of pens on his lap and a defeated look on his face. It seemed his brother had won the pen war today. “Y’know, considering you were both up at that time.”

“I don’t sleep during the day.” Bonnibel countered, finally taking her hand away from Marceline’s leg. “Anyway, are you going to go fetch your pencil or are you finished?”

“We’re finished.” Jake huffed, deciding for the other two in the room. Although Marceline had a sneaking suspicion that neither of them had been too invested in their work anyway. “Personally, I’m also bored as fuck. Can we go do something when Lady comes over?”

“What are our choices?” Phoebe asked, uncrossing her legs and stuffing her notepad into her bag haphazardly. “And __please__  don’t say bowling. We do that too much.” Marceline had to agree with her.

“We could go to the museum again? I know Bonnibel wanted to go again because she didn’t spend much time there the first time went.” The question Finn had asked was innocent. For all the others knew Bonnibel had only been to the museum once. Had only spent forty minutes wandering around aimlessly, half that time spent looking for the others.

“I think I’m okay, Finn.” Bonnibel said with a smile. “I went recently, had a good look around.”

Jake slumped in defeat. “You went on your own?”

“Not exactly,” Bonnibel muttered in response. “Marceline took me. As an apology for cutting our time short the last time.”

“Oh sweet,” Phoebe whistled, smiling over at Marceline. “Like a date?”

Fighting back the blush that threatened to creep up into her cheeks and ears deemed suddenly too difficult. “No,” Marceline grumbled. “It wasn’t a date. It was an apology.”

“What wasn’t a date?” The door swung open and Lady was entering the room with Ellen and Brooke in tow. Oh, goodie. “Abadeer are you holding date information from us?” The smirk on the blonde’s lips made Marceline’s blush win the battle over her face.

“Shut up,” She muttered around a pout. “I just took her to the museum.”

“Oh! Was that what happened Thursday?” Marceline had almost forgotten that Brooke had been there when Marceline had asked Bonnibel if she had been free for the evening. Internally she cursed herself for even asking when she knew they had company in their dorm. “How did it go?”

Bonnibel was remaining tactfully quiet as she buried her nose into her novel, feigning interest in the plot rather than the sticky situation they were both in. Marceline worked her mouth for an answer. “Fine.” Was her final statement. “It went fine. Shut up.”

Ellen opened her mouth before Lady could even realise that Marceline had confessed to going a date with Bonnibel, and the red on her face was probably letting on more than she chose to admit. “I get that she’s a nerd and all but did you really take her to a museum for a date? Nothing extra? Please tell me you had some really great sex afterwards or something to make the story a little spicier.”

Well that was an image that was in Marceline’s head. She tried to shake the image of __that__ out of her thoughts, but could only manage to stammer a few words out before the temperature in the room increased tenfold. “Oh my god, no.”

“She set up a nice picnic.” Bonnibel supplied when Marceline dropped her burning face into her palms in defeat. Her hand did find it’s way back to Marceline’s leg, though, so that was pleasant. “We drank a bottle of champagne between us and watched the sunset. It was very romantic and very cliché.”

“You bought bubbly?” Brooke seemed delighted. “Oh my god I haven’t had champagne in so long. I can’t believe you two kept it to yourselves.”

Marceline glowered at the room through her hair. “Of course I got champagne. I’m not a total walnut when it comes to romance like you think I am.” Brooke snorted at the analogy, but Lady’s eyes had been narrowing the entire time they’d been talking. “Look, if you guys want to go do something as a group that’s fine by me. I vote we go see a movie, all in favour say hell yeah.”

* * *

 

“I have a question,” Bonnibel’s mouth found itself very close to Marceline’s ear as they exited the theatre ahead of their friends. “Has Lady been texting you the entire time we’ve been roomies?”

Marceline twisted her mouth, throwing away her empty popcorn bucket as walked past the bins. “I’d say she’s been scheming, not texting. Apparently I’ve been obvious and she can see right through me. Why?”

“For the past… six months or so? She’s been trying desperately to get me to tell her if I had a crush on you and so on. Scheming definitely sounds right.”

Marceline snorted. “Well she’s not __wrong__. Just too observant.” They watched from the sidelines as Phoebe and Lady waved goodbye to Finn and Bee, who had both only just told the group they had booked a dinner reservation and were meant to be there in forty minutes. It was very typical of Finn, and Marceline had almost snorted when she noticed the flat stare he was being given by his brother.

Then… Ellen and Brooke were leaving too. Marceline would’ve normally felt relieved that the group was dispersing; it usually meant she and Bonnibel could go home with no complaints from the others. Only, the look on Lady’s face told her that that wasn’t the case.

“And why weren’t we told you two were __actually__ going on dates?” Was the shrill question offered as she stalked over to them.

Marceline had to fight not to roll her eyes. “If I say it was to make this whole fake relationship thing a little more believable can I please go home? I’m __exhausted__.”

“I’ll be having words with both of you,” Lady waggled a finger at them. “Over text, probably.”

Marceline blinked and watched as Lady walked back over to Jake. That had… actually worked. Bonnibel’s hand wrapped around her wrist.

“Come on, let’s go before she changes her mind. Thank god it’s her and Jake’s relationship, huh?” Was whispered in her ear. Marceline had no arguments with that plan, but still required a tug along the side walk to get her to stop spluttering.

“So we’re just… let off? Like that?”

“I wish it was that easy. We’re most definitely going to be interrogated by her at some point in the next few days. As for everyone else I assume the boys won’t care and Phoebe and Keila will be pleased.” Bonnibel sighed. “Are you okay? That wasn’t too much was it?”

Marceline shook her head dumbly. “I was expecting more, to be honest.” And then she glanced down at their linked hands and blinked some more. “This is nice though.”

“You’re nice,” Bonnibel cooed, bringing her other hand to prod at her nose. “Are we going back to our dorm then?”

“Of course,” Marceline mumbled, glancing up at Bonnibel with a soft smile. “But first I want to kiss you.” The way Bonnibel didn’t even flinch, or complain, or laugh in her face and tell her it was all a big prank was incredibly nice and made her heart fail on its own. Hell, the way Bonnibel tilted her head for a better angle made Marceline jittery.

Bonnibel was first to pull away, not completely, but enough so that she could hum and lean back in to peck Marceline on the lips once more. “Come on then,” She sighed. “I want to watch a movie before you pass out from exhaustion.”

They barely got through ten minutes of the princess bride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	25. This Side of Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howdy it's Cliché update day.

Summer break was fast approaching. Marceline's classes seemed to be heaping on the extra work and assignments just to spite her, whereas Finn and Bonnibel were being given  _less_ work. It was very unfair.

With summer being only a week away, the heat had been sneaking up on them too. Marceline had been lathering herself in sun cream just in case she went outside and returned to her dorm looking like a tomato. The shorts were permanently in her drawers, commented on by Lady always.

"I feel like I'm melting," Jake complained, sitting at their usual table. His pencil was rolling away from him, threatening to fall onto the ground at any minute, and he just groaned into the table and let it fall. "Why did we go to the beach when it was cold? Why not now?" He peaked his eyes out from the crook of his elbow to peer at his girlfriend.

"It's the middle of a school day, Jake," Lady reminded him. "In fact, you have two more lectures in about thirty minutes. Get a wiggle on with your work, yeah?"

Finn patted his brother on the back. "We can go to the beach tomorrow. No one has anything tomorrow afternoon."

Marceline frowned inwardly and fiddled with a stray bit of fabric that had been tickling her thigh. "Me and Bonnibel usually do dates on Wednesday afternoons." She grumbled, chewing her lips while she thought about it. Eventually, the idea of cool water and ice creams won her over. "I guess we can cancel. It  _is_ far too warm."

"I keep forgetting you two are like… actually going on dates now." Jake muttered around the grimace that had been on his face as soon as the temperatures had begun to climb. "I almost didn't believe Lady when she told me, thought you were too much of a coward."

Marceline let out an airy laugh. "I was. Still am, honestly. She just… I don't even know how she did it. Apparently she  _knew_  the entire time. She confessed for the both of us."

Jake arched a brow. "When was this? Was she drunk?"

"No," Marceline snorted. "She woke me up one night and dragged me outside and kind of had a bit of a breakdown in front of me. Told me she liked me when we were tiny, that I had been far too obvious." Marceline huffed. "Then of course that left me to actually do something about it. So… the museum felt like a good choice for a first date." She shrugged, opened her mouth to say more, then stopped herself when she realised Jake hadn't asked if Bonnibel tasted like cherry chapstick and champagne.

"I'm happy it worked out for the both of you," Lady began when Marceline fell silent. "Couldn't stand to watch you both pine over each other like a couple of protagonists in a badly written YA novel."

Marceline snorted. "Yeah. Thanks for playing the role of our annoying best friend, I guess?"

The table fell silent once more, Marceline playing with the zipper of her guitar case and watching Jake miserably finish his maths homework. Finn complained about his phone battery being low fifteen minutes later, which prompted an eye roll from Lady who then handed him a portable battery pack. It was another ten minutes later when Bonnibel and Phoebe sat down with ice cream and a colourful frozen treat.

Marceline pouted. "Where'd you get those?"

"There's a van parked outside of the main building." Phoebe mumbled around her ice lolly. Finn and Jake shared a look before they began hastily packing away, Jake saying something along the lines of 'see you after my lectures' before they both began running in the direction of where Phoebe and Bonnibel had just come from. "Boys," Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Does anyone else have a lesson in five minutes?" Lady and Marceline raised their hands. "Damn. I wanted someone to drive me up to the beach. It's perfect weather."

"The boys were saying something about going tomorrow afternoon. I assume there'll be a message in the group chat about the specifics." Lady offered.

Phoebe grinned. "Awesome."

"You want an ice cream?" Bonnibel's hand planted itself on Marceline's leg, something that the latter was beginning to get more used to in the heat.

Marceline stared at the one in Bonnibel's hand before shaking her head. "It's fine, I'll get one later."

"It might not be there later," Phoebe said. "I don't think it was set up by the college or anything. Just… good customers, right?"

"Want some of mine?" Bonnibel offered, waving the cone in front of Marceline's face almost tauntingly.

Marceline jokingly screwed her face up in a look of disgust. "Ew, cooties."

"Marceline Abadeer," Bonnibel gasped, leaning forwards ever closer to Marceline's face. "My tongue has been in your mouth and you're worried about  _cooties_?"

Marceline and Lady began to laugh. "I'm joking, I'm joking," Marceline said around the pout now back on her face. "But which side have you licked?"

The cone was pressed firmly against her nose.

She deserved it.

* * *

It seemed that a lot of conversations between her and her girlfriend usually started with the phrase 'do you remember' and ended with something moderately embarrassing about the other person. For example, Marceline found great mirth in asking Bonnibel if she remembered any of the rebellious things Marceline had gotten her to do in their early teen years, and in payback Bonnibel would innocently bat her eyelids and ask her if she remembered getting changed in front of each other and how much Marceline had stared at the other girl.

So, when Bonnibel turned to ask, "Do you remember when we ran away for the weekend?", Marceline wasn't as taken aback as she thought she would be.

"Which time?" Marceline asked in response, brows furrowing when she realised the controller for her console was out of batteries.

Bonnibel rolled her eyes from Marceline's bed, watching as Marceline slid of the couch to search for some spare batteries in the drawers under the TV. "The third time. When you kinda sort of maybe told me that you liked kissing me."

"Oh," Marceline blinked, a blush seeping up past her ears. "Yeah, I remember. Why?"

"No reason," Bonnibel shrugged. "I was just thinking about that weekend the other night. You pushed me into a lake." She added the last bit flatly.

Marceline laughed a little bit, closing the drawer when all she found were triple A's. "It was a fun weekend. Honestly didn't think you'd last three days when I asked you."

"That's because you had no faith in me."

"True," Marceline agreed, shuffling over to the little cupboard and swinging it open to peer inside. "But I was also a little bit in love with you and didn't want you getting hurt." Bonnibel's chin was suddenly on Marceline's shoulder. The older girl paused, wondered how she'd not heard her get up, then continued in her search.

An arm snuck around her waist. " _Was_?" Bonnibel pouted. At least, Marceline assumed she was pouting; her head was halfway inside the cupboard. "I think you're very much in love with me now."

Marceline felt it appropriate to stick her bottom lip out, too. "Yeah, well," She began in a huff. "You're absolutely gorgeous. How could I not be kind of in love with you?"

Bonnibel kissed the back of her shoulder. "Good. I'm kind of in love with you too. I was also panicking that night in the train station."

"Panicking, why?" Marceline asked once she retreated from the cupboard and gave up on her hunt for batteries. She'd have to purchase some more from the store, or buy one of those wires that she could just put into the controller. Less hassle.

"Uhm, hello? You said you liked kissing me. I didn't even realise liking women was an actual thing that could happen. Realising that you enjoyed our escapades kind of blew my mind a little."

"Escapades, huh?" Marceline arched a brow, turning in Bonnibel's arms to stare at her properly. "Is sneaking round the back of your dad's shed really that risqué?"

Bonnibel scoffed. "I was raised a Christian. Please, sue me for thinking they'd disagree."

Marceline hummed and leaned in to kiss Bonnibel slowly. "Y'know, kind of surprised you haven't gone all naughty school girl on me yet." They blinked, Bonnibel's brows arching as Marceline's blush deepened. "Not like that," She was quick to continue. "I mean, y'know, you  _were_  raised a Christian. You even went to a catholic school. I'm surprised you never went all mega bitch mode or something."

"If that's what you're into, Marcy," Bonnibel teased, ignoring everything Marceline had followed up with. "Maybe I'll get out a little skirt and tie and ask you to grade my papers."

Marceline groaned and fell back onto the floor. "Shut up, you know what I meant." Bonnibel's dimpled smile blocked the light on the ceiling. Marceline pouted up at her and took a swipe at the strings on her friend's hoodie. "Why is it  _your_ mind that's always in the gutter? Thought you were supposed to be innocent." She tugged lightly, smiling when Bonnibel shifted down onto the floor next to her.

It took a while for Bonnibel to answer, mostly because her hands had found themselves playing with Marceline's hair, and whenever she opened her mouth Marceline would lean up to kiss her soundly. "I guess I'm compensating for the both of us." She finally mumbled when Marceline rested her head back down on the carpet, settling down with her and putting her head on her chest. "There's been a distinct lack of innuendo's coming out of your mouth, Abadeer."

"I guess you stole my powers," Marceline joked. "Also, I am not complaining about you using your mind for the dark side. About damn time if you ask me." There was another bout of silence. Marceline sighed. "We should probably move to the bed before we end up sleeping on the floor." More silence. "Bonnie?"

The redhead offered a snore in response.


	26. Simple Romance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy one year since the finale!

****Bonnie (7:31AM):**** Good morning Marceline!! I hope you have a good last day of break. I’ll need picking up from the train station at 4:15

 ** **Lady (9:50AM):**** Bonnibel tells me you’ve spent all summer playing video games with Finn instead of enjoying yourself. It’s the last day of break, Abadeer, have some fun.

 ** **Jake (10:12AM):**** How was your summer break?

 ** **Phoebe (11:49AM):**** On a scale of one to I Miss Bonnibel, how lonely were you during the last couple of months?

 ** **Phoebe (11:51AM):**** Don’t answer that I already know you miss your girlfriend

 ** **Bonnie (12:01PM)**** : Are you still asleep?

 ** **Bonnie (1:00PM):**** I’m getting on my train please wake up soon

 ** **Finn (1:23PM):**** free for a game of battlefield in about an hour?

 ** **Dad (1:45PM):**** I need to talk to you Marceline

Marceline peered over at her alarm clock and groaned when she read __2:13PM__ flashing red, telling her she had probably slept for a good eleven hours. She glanced back at the phone in her hand, tapping out a reply to Finn.

 ** **Marceline (2:14PM):**** Might get a game in after I’ve picked Bonnibel up, depending on if she wants to order take out or smth.

She threw her phone down onto her bed and sat up, running a hand through her untamed hair. The train station was forty minutes away from campus and Marceline already knew if she set off at half past she’d be ten minutes late because of traffic. She threw on a shirt and some ripped jeans, tugged on a pair of converse, and grabbed her car keys from the top drawer.

 ** **Marceline (2:20PM):**** I’m awake !! Also setting off to come and collect you :*

 ** **Bonnie (2:20PM):**** Do I want to know why you’ve only just woken up?

 ** **Bonnie (2:21PM):**** You’re banned from playing video games with Finn past midnight

Marceline pouted but tucked her phone in her back pocket as she unlocked her car and slid into the drivers seat. She’d be able to persuade her girlfriend to let her play battlefield at odd hours in the night with Finn… probably limited to the weekends, though.

She could learn to live with that, to be honest.

* * *

 

“Marcy!”

Marceline didn’t really have much time to register that Bonnibel had shouted her name, nor was she able to put her phone in her pocket before Bonnibel’s arms wrapped around her in a full body hug, threatening to lift Marceline off the ground if she’d been just a little bit lighter. “Hey Bonnie,” Marceline struggled to get out. Bonnibel’s arms were squeezing her so tight she swore she heard something crack. Hopefully it wasn’t a rib. That would suck. “I missed you too.”

Bonnibel’s lips were on hers for too little time, but Marceline could only pout and let herself be dragged into the car park, trying not to get her toes ran over by Bonnibel’s suitcase. “We’re going on a date.” Bonnibel stated with a bubbly smile, laughter twinkling in Marceline’s ears as she span on her heel when they got to her car. “I made dinner reservations and everything.” That would explain why she was wearing a lovely flowy ankle left dress. The heels on her feet were also a hint, too, but Marceline could only be grouchy at how much taller they made her.

Marceline’s eyebrows arched. For some reason, it surprised her to hear that Bonnibel had planned a date. It made everything that had happened in the past year seem very real. She unlocked the car and sat down, finding herself being kissed far too quickly again before she could even start the engine. A slanted smile was all she could offer in reply. “Alright boss, where we headed after we drop of your stuff?”

“The Pavilion,” Bonnibel hummed, busying herself with her seatbelt. “You know… the really fancy one.”

Marceline blinked. “Are you paying… or?”

“No,” Bonnibel laughed. “My parents are, kind of. They gave me a bit of spending money while I was over there that I never used.”

“Remind me to thank them if I ever get the chance to,” Marceline said around a smile. “If I remember correctly I’ve only been here once and it was with my parents. Dad made me wear a dress.” She gave the car in front of them a look of disgust. “A _dress_. Imagine that.”

Bonnibel sucked her bottom lip in as she smiled nervously. “About that…” And she turned around in her seat to rummage around in her case on the backseat. “You do need to wear _something_ nice. It’s not a dress.” And she pulled out a black silky tie and a pair of fancy shoes.

Marceline frowned. “You want me in a suit?” She spluttered. “Are you kidding? I don’t know how to tie those.” And she nodded at the tie.

“I’ll help with that.” Bonnibel tutted. “You’re gonna have to hurry getting changed though; the reservation is at five.”

“You’re so lucky you’re my girlfriend.” Marceline grumbled. 

* * *

 

The Pavilion was a dimly lit overly fancy restaurant. Marceline vaguely remembers it getting two michelin stars a few years ago and it suddenly becoming a big tourist attraction for their small town. The only other thing she could remember was her visit with her parents, throughout which she complained about having to wear a dress and getting into a vague argument with her father over something or other.

Bonnibel stepped up to the woman behind a little wooden stand with a book full of names and time slots sat on top. “Bennett.” She said through a barely contained smile. “I had one of the window booths reserved for five. We’re a little early.”

The woman nodded, eyes landing on Bonnibel’s name on the list. “That’s fine, just follow me to your table.” Marceline followed behind Bonnibel as the woman took them to the other end of the room. A booth in the corner with a floor to ceiling window overlooking the waterfront was quite possibly the most romantic thing Marceline had ever seen.

She ducked her head to Bonnibel’s ear as the woman laid out the menus and cutlery. “Is that champagne?”

Bonnibel couldn’t really reply immediately; the woman had finished and they both slid into opposite seats. The smirk on her face gave away the answer before she even opened her mouth. “Yes. Very fancy, very __expensive__  champagne. So we must drink it all.” And she threw in a little wink as she opened her menu.

Marceline hummed. “Well, this is incredibly lovely.” She observed, sighing at the view from the window. Then she peered at her girlfriend. “I have something to ask you.”

“Please don’t propose.” Bonnibel breathed around her smile, it seemed to be permanent if only for the evening. “It’s only been five months.”

“Oh shut up,” Marceline retorted with a laugh. “I proposed years ago, thank you.” Then she cleared her throat. “But seriously, I keep thinking about when we had that huge argument in my car and then afterwards you asked if we could go home.” Marceline fiddled with the hem of the silk vest Bonnibel had bought her, trying to figure out how she was going to ask what she wanted to ask. “Did… Did you mean-,” She clicked her mouth shut, too embarrassed to finish the rest of her sentence, and busied herself with opening her menu.

“Home is where the heart is, Marceline,” Bonnibel said. “I guess… at the time I wanted to go back to when we were friends. Our dorm isn’t home to me, Marcy,” She confessed quietly. Marceline felt herself relax only slightly. “But… anything is with you around.”  

They both flushed a bright red. Bonnibel sank in her seat and stared at her heels while Marceline coughed and tried desperately hard to focus on what she wanted to eat. She settled on lasanga and reread the ingredients over and over again.

The waiter came and went with a little notepad for their orders before Marceline decided to crack open the champagne, pouring Bonnibel and herself some in their respective glasses.

“Champagne makes me think of kissing you now,” Bonnibel mumbled into her glass. “Which is weird because it used to be scary thinking of that.”

“Hiding behind a shed probably didn’t help with that,” Marceline snickered. “I mean, come on, we could’ve made out in your bedroom but _no_ we had to kiss outside near the bushes.”

Bonnibel pouted. “In my defence whenever we kissed in my room I felt even worse.”

Marceline rolled her eyes and took another sip of her champagne. “So you’ve always had a dirty mind then?”

Bonnibel kicked her in her shin.

* * *

 

“I still cannot get over how nice you look in this,” Bonnibel giggled as they stepped out of the restaurant, nearly tripping over on the steps. Marceline blamed the fuzzy heat below her stomach on the fact that they’d ordered another bottle of champagne. “Like? You look good… kinda… kinda hot?”

“Kinda?” Marceline teased, leading her girlfriend to the car.

The red head flushed pink. “Shut up. You look _really_ hot.” Bonnibel huffed as they neared the car, pressing a kiss to Marceline’s jaw before they both slid into their seats. “It’s unfair how good you look in a vest and tie. Even if you rolled the sleeves up past your elbows.”

Marceline snorted and started the engine. “Now you get how I feel about you all the time.” She sang. “You always look utterly adorable, and then you wear dresses and skirts and my mind short circuits because _wow_ you’re gorgeous.”

“So we’re both good looking,” Bonnibel smirked. “Does that make us a power couple?”

“Duh.” Marceline replied, glancing at her girlfriend out of the corner of her eye. “But you’re way better looking than me, babe, and I love you way more so therefore I win.”

Bonnibel blinked. “Did you call me babe just now?”

Marceline swallowed. “Uh, maybe,”

“And you just said you loved me.”

Marceline bit her lip and remained silent for the rest of the ride to their dorm room. She stepped out of the car when they found themselves parked up in their side of the campus’ parking lot, taking not two steps towards their dorm building before Bonnibel turned her around to kiss her. “I think you’re forgetting I’ve missed you all summer and haven’t kissed you in ages.” The redhead mumbled against Marceline’s lips.

Marceline smirked in response, hands steadying at the small of Bonnibel’s back. “We should do something about that.”

Bonnibel’s hands were grabbing at her collar, her tie, her vest in an attempt to draw Marceline closer, tongue doing that thing that made Marceline’s brain go funny, and she was vaguely aware that the heat below her stomach grew hotter with every movement. It roared when Bonnibel’s fingers managed to untuck her shirt, nails ghosting her hips as she roamed upwards. It grew brighter when Bonnibel pulled away gasping for air, chest heaving, forehead resting against her own.

“I love you too,” The redhead panted, moving in for a chaste kiss, then another, and then another. And then, “If… If I said I wanted to-… with you?”

Marceline licked her lips, blinked once. “Yeah, that’d be- That’d be okay,” And then Bonnibel was kissing her again, laughter burbling up from her throat as Marceline grinned into it.

“We’re ridiculous,” Bonnibel breathed, pulling away once more only to pull Marceline into the building. “Making out in the middle of the parking lot like a couple of teens.” Bonnibel huffed and shook her head, coming to a stop outside their door.

Marceline snorted as she unlocked it, swinging it open with a smirk. “Better than fumbling about behind your dads shed.”

Maybe it was the champagne, or just the fact that they were where they were doing what they were doing, but Bonnibel brazenly unzipped her dress, wriggled out of it, stepped further into the room, freckled back suddenly wiping away Marceline’s wild grin.

And then blue eyes were on hers, luring her to step closer, kiss her cheek, her lips, her neck, anywhere her lips could reach.

“I don’t think this is fair.” Bonnibel breathed, pulling away with a teasing smile. Marceline frowned, began to step backwards, only to be pushed back onto her too small bed. “You’re still fully clothed.”

The suit was much easier to take off than it had been to put on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kofi: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP


	27. If You Don't Jump (You'll Never Fly)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's a short one. only half of it is cute.

Consciousness came to her in three waves. The first was subtle, like a nudge against her eyelids telling her that she was awake. Marceline could only nuzzle back into her pillows and try her hardest to slip back into dreamland. The alarm wasn’t going off, she told herself, she probably had another hour or so. She was probably safe.

If the first was a nudge then the second was more of a push. Still gentle but her eyes fluttered open this time, hands grabbing at the duvet because her bare skin was cold and the cover had fallen between her and Bonnibel. The nuzzling commenced once more and Marceline’s eyes slipped closed again.

The second was a lull. Humming into the back of her shoulder, Bonnibel’s lips traced the top of her spine, kissing gently and grazing bone with teeth. Marceline was vaguely aware of Bonnibel’s fingers tracing light circles in the hollow of her waist.

Marceline hummed in reply. “What time is it?” She asked around a sudden yawn, shifting and rolling over to face her girlfriend, smiling when she saw that Bonnibel’s lids were still shut.

Bonnibel took her time with the response, instead idly taking locks of Marceline’s hair around her index finger and lazily kissing her collarbone. “Half seven,” Was finally offered against skin. “I have a lecture in an hour.” And then, finally, her eyes opened and Marceline was greeted with bountiful pools of blue. Her girlfriend was pouting.

“Hm, well you’d better start getting ready.” Marceline muttered. She pressed a kiss against Bonnibel’s pout just for good measure. “Don’t want to be tardy with _your_ immaculate record.”

“Sometimes I want to remind you that you used to be a bit of a dork too.” Bonnibel huffed, throwing back the duvet for Marceline to quickly hoard. “Can I wear this?”

Marceline’s jaw slacked opened just a tiny bit. Well, about halfway. It was only natural in response to seeing her girlfriend stand and stretch and bend down completely bare. “Yeah,” Marceline nodded dumbly, drawing her eyes away from the expanse of skin to the hoodie in Bonnibel’s hands. “It’ll probably be big on you, oversized and all that.”

“Thanks,” Bonnibel’s eyes stayed on Marceline, a little knowing smile playing on her lips, before she started busying herself with getting dressed of all things. Marceline didn’t know why she bothered; they could’ve stayed in bed, replayed the events of the night before, bask in… whatever it is couples basked in.

Marceline gathered all of the duvet, buried herself in a warm embrace of comfort, eyes languidly trailing Bonnibel around the room as she dressed, only losing sight of her when Bonnibel disappeared into the bathroom. With the duvet pulled right up to her chin and the pillow and mattress still warm from Bonnibel’s presence, Marceline wriggled down and let her eyes slide shut. The alarm on her phone had been set. She had two hours before her music theory lesson. She could get a nice lie in.

Except, Bonnibel felt it right to throw a couch cushion at Marceline’s lump of warmth, hitting her squarely in the head. “Oi!” Marceline exclaimed, peeking her head back out her cave. “What’s that look for?”

Bonnibel frowned, the soft glare on her face harshening, and pointed to the red and brown marks on her neck. “What do you think?”

Marceline snickered at the sight of her girlfriends marked up throat. If she remembered correctly (and she definitely did) Bonnibel had been quite pleased when Marceline had focussed her attention to her neck. “You can cover it up with makeup, right?” She asked, feigning innocence with a bat of her eyelids and a casual stretch. Bonnibel’s brow furrowed further. “Go cover it up, dork,” Marceline breathed when it was apparent she wouldn’t win the stare off. “You’re gonna be late for your lecture.”

The bathroom was door was shut and Marceline drifted back off to sleep to the sounds of Bonnibel’s soft grumbling from beyond the bathroom door.

* * *

 

Marceline’s pretty sure that the rest of the college thinks they’re a cult. They sit around the same table every day, recruit new people every now and then, and discuss their plans in quiet murmurs. Or she was just going crazy. Probably the latter.

Finn and Jake were talking animatedly about a new movie they were going to go watch, and poor Bonnibel had been wedged in between them with one of her science related textbooks in hand. Lady, Bee and Phoebe were helping each other out with their homework, occasionally earning a groan from Marceline out of sheer boredom or an ‘Actually,’ from Bonnibel who was an expert in eavesdropping.

Seated on the other end of the otherwise crowded table, Marceline was fiddling with the already abused corners of her notebook.

None of them heard nor expected Ellen, Cait and Fiona to come marching up to their table with their bags, so it was only appropriate that the sound of a bag hitting the chair with force would make everyone jump. Marceline wanted to laugh at the disgruntled face of Jake peer up and turn to shock the minute he saw Ellen.

Finn was the first to speak. “To what do we owe the honour?” Marceline snorted. He’d been hanging out with Jake far too much.

Ellen sent a glare his way, but quickly hid it with a look of resolve. “I think we need to throw a celebratory party.”

Marceline groaned. “Ellen, you throw a party every other week, please don’t subject me to any more.” The rest of the table to be in agreement, which only made Ellen’s look of determination harden. Before she could say anything, however, Jake cut in with a wave of his pencil. Marceline almost ducked out of instinct.

“Why not do something else?” He asked. “Something we know we all like?”

“Jake if you mention bowling or the beach I’m going to gut you,” Phoebe voiced Marceline’s inner dialogue. “I swear we cycle between those three things all the time. And anyway, what are we celebrating?”

“One more year left, duh.” Ellen rolled her eyes. “But fine, if you insist on not having a party then do you suggest, Abadeer? A game of chess?”

“I’m not Bonnie,” Marceline grumbled. Her girlfriend shot her a disapproving stare from over the pages of her book. “But I was thinking something _fun_. Something we all enjoy.”

“We all like bowling,” Finn chimed in. “And we’ve not played with the girls yet.”

Bee pulled a funny face from her place beside him. “No offence or anything, Finn, but bowling doesn’t sound as riveting as you and Jake might think.”

“Ditto,” Cait added. “Me and Fiona were thinking about going to see a movie but we’ve seen most of the new ones anyway.”

Lady sighed. “We need a good group activity. Something that everyone can enjoy, even your little group of introverts you call band practise.” And a finger was levelled at Marceline.

“We’re inviting them?”

“Yes, we’re inviting them,” Bonnibel answered for Lady. “We’re all friends and it’s unfair that we’ve only really hung out with them once or twice.”

“Group activity.” Fiona reminded them of the task at hand. “Why not paintball?”

Jake paled. “Too violent. I don’t want bruises the size of apricots on my arms.”

“What about going out for dinner?” Phoebe offered. The table shook their heads in unison.

“Camping?”

“Last time I went camping I got bit by something and had to go to the ER. You were there, Finn. I’m not about to risk my life again.” Jake huffed.

“Why not a three car road trip?” Marceline jokingly provided. The group fell silent, eyes darting to her. Marceline swallowed and continued her train of thought. “My dad has two camper vans.” She mumbled. “They hold five people each and we can take my old pick up with us to carry around the other three people and some sleeping bags and whatnot.”

“Where would we go?” Ellen asked sceptically.

“We could drive around to some tourist traps. Salem would be pretty good if we plan on going during the October break.”

“You wanna go to Salem?” Jake asked, deadpan. “That’s like… way north of here.”

“ _ _Way__  north.” Marceline agreed, waggling her brows. “I took Bonnie up there via train one summer.”

“She kidnapped me at four in the morning and didn’t tell me where we were going until we got there.” Bonnibel clarified, eyes still glued to her book. “It was quite lovely, though.”

Fiona frowned at the rest of the table. “So… hang on, we’re going up to Salem for two weeks?”

“It’ll take a couple of days to get there and back,” Marceline pointed out. “But yeah, why not?”

“Why not,” Finn repeated. The rest of table seemed to be in agreement too. “It’ll be fun.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blah blah im broke blah blah please be nice and send me money blah blah my kofi link: https://ko-fi.com/Y8Y8P2NP (it's 1am im tired)


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